Beryl’s punch weakened as it drew close to Bi-Stone area

Concerns that Tropical Storm Beryl might dump heavy amounts of rain and cause flooding along I-45 that might affect Limestone and Freestone Counties apparently failed to materialize.

A flood watch was in effect through early Tuesday morning, July 9, for most of eastern North and Central Texas after Beryl made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane in South Texas near Houston Sunday night, according to Limestone County Emergency Management. There were also warnings of potential tornadoes, but none apparently were detected in the local area.

In Fairfield it was wet and windy on Monday, but there was no flooding. Sputtering rain started about midday, but the skies cleared by evening leaving cooler temperatures in the storm’s wake.

Elsewhere on the eastern side of I-45, it was a different story though.

In Tyler, in Smith County, the storm that tracked northeasterly dumped five inches of rain on Monday, and the region experienced high wind gusts.

In the Houston area, Beryl knocked out power to 3 million homes and businesses that could take several days to restore. The storm that drove heavy rain and reportedly killed at least three people weakened quickly to a tropical depression, according to the Associated Press.

Significant damage and flooding occurred in South Texas, but it was nowhere near as severe as the Category 5 hurricane that Beryl unleashed earlier in the Caribbean.

In the Corpus Christi area that suffered catastrophic damage from Hurricane Harvey in 2017, officials in Port Aransas on Mustang Island took no chances with Beryl. All visitors were ordered to evacuate the island before Sunday, although the storm already appeared to be tracking in a northeasterly direction toward Houston.

Port Aransas is still in the process of restoring damage that occurred to public buildings during Harvey’s strike.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is forecasting an especially active hurricane season this year with 17 to 25 named storms with winds above 39 mph. Of those eight to 13 are forecast to become hurricanes with winds of 74 mph and higher.

Four to seven of them might become major hurricanes of Category 3, 4 or 5 strengths with winds 111 miles and higher.

The Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, is expected to be above normal because of warmer Atlantic Ocean temperatures, LaNina conditions in the Pacific Ocean and reduced Atlantic trade winds.