Hurricane Beryl’s Aftermath in Texas: Was It Worse Than Expected? A Meteorologist Gives His Opinion

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Hurricane Beryl hit southeast Texas Monday morning with hurricane-force winds and torrential rain, causing flash flooding on major roads and highways and damage to many communities. Many consider Beryl to be the worst storm since Hurricane Ike, given the impacts of wind and rain.

Before landfall, Beryl’s path began to shift further north toward southeast Texas and Houston. The ABC13 weather team discussed this possibility more than a week in advance, discussing tropical “wild cards” that could shift Beryl’s path toward Houston. That ultimately happened when Beryl made landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula, further north than originally forecast. It was one of the big precursors that would send the storm closer to southeast Texas.

Additionally, the threat of Beryl intensifying from a tropical storm to a potential Category 1 or 2 hurricane before making landfall along the Gulf Coast would increase the degree of impact at landfall, which also occurred when Beryl strengthened from a tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane Sunday night.

However, the storm caught many people off guard, perhaps because of its timing after a long holiday weekend or the belief that impacts would be minimal. Another factor may be that for many who have moved to Houston in the last five to 10 years, this was the first hurricane to make landfall near the city and hit it as well. Hurricane Nicholas in 2021 was more of a coastal storm, and Harvey in 2017 technically did not make landfall in Southeast Texas.

That being said, Beryl will be a lesson to many: While Houston and Southeast Texas are no strangers to tropical systems, we still need to adequately prepare for each one should one ever come our way. That means making sure you have a hurricane preparedness kit and plans in place for you and your family before, during and after the storm.

It’s understandable that many restoration efforts are out of our control, such as when power is restored after an outage. CenterPoint still estimates it will have restored power to 1 million people by Wednesday, and you can check out those efforts on its website.

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