Death toll from Hurricane Beryl in Houston area rises to at least 18, including 6 confirmed heat-related deaths in Harris County

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A look at Hurricane Beryl deaths shows the medical examiner has attributed at least six deaths in Harris County to heat.

As of Tuesday, 18 people have died in Southeast Texas due to the impacts of the Category 1 storm, ranging from drowning to heat-related illnesses to power outages. That number is expected to rise in the coming days as families in our area continue to inform ABC13 of the deaths of their loved ones.

In Matagorda County, authorities confirmed that a man died from heat during power outages following the storm. The family of Charles Yañez spoke to ABC13 for the first time Tuesday.

“I wasn’t really worried about the heat until I saw it take my dad, so it’s pretty serious,” said Robert Yañez, Charles’ son. “My dad told me, ‘If it only lasts until 5 p.m., I’m going to hold on and wait it out.’”

SEE ALSO: 3 Montgomery County deaths among 5 in Houston area attributed to fallen trees during Beryl

However, that same day, Tuesday, July 9, Charles Yañez died in his Bay City home from heat exhaustion.

“I put wet towels on him to cool him down. I gave him ice packs and little fans to keep him a little bit cool,” Yañez recalls. “I had a hard time believing he had passed away because people kept saying his time had come, but he was only 61 and he had so much life, and I don’t agree. It wasn’t his time. He didn’t have to die like that.”

Robert Yañez said his father’s death could have been prevented. His father is among a long list of people who lost their lives to Hurricane Beryl in several counties.

SEE ALSO: HPD employee drowned while driving to work during Beryl storms, Mayor John Whitmire says

“He just believed in being nice to everybody,” Robert Yañez said. “He had to do whatever he could. If you can do something for somebody, do it.”

Johnnie Courtney, meanwhile, was a 77-year-old veteran whose family remembers him as a kind man. He drowned in North Side Village when his car was submerged in flooded roadway the day of the storm. His family believes it was during a trip to the VA medical center.

In the Houston area, the medical examiner’s office confirmed that Oscar Rodriguez, 78, died of heat exhaustion last week while he had no power.

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