US states remained on flood alert on Tuesday, ahead of the passage of Hurricane Beryl, which has already killed eight people in the southern US.
After its deadly passage from the Caribbean, Beryl began to hit the southern US from yesterday Monday, with the authorities counting seven deaths in Texas and one in Louisiana.
Beryl, which has been upgraded to a hurricane again, could cause flooding from the south "to the Great Lakes" in the north, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned.
Tornadoes are also possible in some areas, the agency added.
Four people have died in the Houston area, according to the mayor of the large south Texas city and police.
A city police officer died in a flash flood on his way to work, Mayor John Whitmire said, while another person died in a fire caused by lightning. The remaining two deaths were due to falling trees.
Beryl caused significant damage and flooding in Texas, leaving at least seven dead in the Houston region and over 2.3 million residents without power.
The Coast Guard shared this aerial view around Sargent, Texas, about 50 miles south of Houston. https://t.co/88HBVyniHP pic.twitter.com/MnABcZamu0
- AccuWeather (@accuweather) July 9, 2024
Further north, in Benton County, Louisiana, a woman was killed when a tree fell on her home, police said via Facebook.
Before making landfall in the US, Beryl left at least 10 dead in the Caribbean and Venezuela as it ranked as a Category 5 on the five-point Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale.
According to data from the specialized website poweroutage.us, more than 2 million households were still without power in Texas yesterday. In Louisiana, however, their number had dropped to more than 13.000, according to the same source.
Source: protothema.gr
