Storm causes devastation in Houston: Power outages and at least four dead

Tropical Storm Beryl ravaged through the heart of Houston on Monday, turning streets into raging rivers. At least four people lost their lives, and over two million power customers in Texas are affected by outages. The storm reached the coast early Monday as a Category 1 hurricane and weakened as it crossed the city, but continued its devastating march northward. Despite its official classification as merely a moderate storm, this categorization underestimated its actual power, as local authorities emphasized. Lina Hidalgo, chief official of Harris County, which includes Houston, warned citizens to stay in their homes and away from windows, as if a tornado were imminent. The center of the storm passed just west of the city, causing Houston to experience some of the storm's heaviest impacts as it rotated counterclockwise. By Monday afternoon, officials began assessing the damage while residents emerged from their homes to find a landscape of downed power lines, damaged houses, fallen trees, and flooded streets. The city's airports remained closed throughout the afternoon due to continuing strong winds. Houston's residents are accustomed to severe weather events and power outages. However, Beryl, which began as an unusually strong storm in the Caribbean, proved to be a bad omen for a hurricane season forecasted to be particularly active.