At the very least eight persons are lifeless and over two million persons are nonetheless with out electrical energy after Hurricane Beryl made its approach via Louisiana and Texas on Monday, July 8.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire confirmed that a minimum of three individuals have died on account of the storm in a press conference, and several other different county police departments in Texas have additionally confirmed deaths of their areas.
Whitmire famous throughout his press convention {that a} man died resulting from a “tree falling” down on him, which “took his life,” and one other particular person was killed in a “hearth in southeast Houston,” which they imagine could have been attributable to “lightning” that was “storm-related.”
He additionally famous {that a} “civilian worker” of Houston’s Police Division had been killed whereas “going to work” after he obtained caught in “flood circumstances” on Houston Avenue and floodwaters submerged his automotive. The Houston Police Division identified the deceased employee as info safety officer Russell Richardson, 54, and requested individuals to maintain his household and pals of their “prayers.”
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A constable in Harris County additionally confirmed on social media {that a} 74-year-old lady had died after a “tree fell via the roof” of her dwelling.
In the meantime, the Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana confirmed on social media that an individual “was killed after a tree fell on her home in northeast Benton.”
Montgomery County Emergency Administration additionally confirmed to CNN that three individuals had died, together with one man in his 40s who was struck by a fallen tree whereas he was in his tractor within the jap a part of the county and two others who “had been found in a tent in a wooded space in Magnolia.”
Montgomery County Emergency Administration didn’t instantly reply to PEOPLE’s request for remark.
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White Home Deputy Communications Director Jennifer Molina shared on X (previously Twitter) that President Joe Biden known as Whitmire and expressed his “condolences for the lack of life on account of Hurricane Beryl.” Additionally they famous that Biden assured Whitmire that Texans would “have the assets they should get via the storm now and to get well going ahead.”
Officers within the areas impacted by the storm additionally warn people to maintain off roadways and avoid downed energy traces on Tuesday morning as “harmful driving circumstances nonetheless exist.” In response to poweroutage.us, which tracks energy outages throughout the nation, greater than 2.3 million individuals had been with out energy in Texas as of 9 a.m. native time on Tuesday, July 9.
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Different states additionally reported energy outages as a result of storm, together with Louisiana, with 23,000 outages, and Arkansas, with over 18,000 outages.
Beryl made landfall within the U.S. as a Class 1 hurricane earlier than being downgraded to a tropical melancholy. Nonetheless, a flood watch was issued for states from Arkansas to Michigan on July 9, with a risk of as much as 5 inches of rain, in keeping with NBC News.
