HOUSTON (AFP) – At least eight people were killed in the southern United States (US) after storm Beryl felled trees and caused heavy flooding, before being downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone on Tuesday.
In the aftermath, as millions in the Houston area remained without power and were sweating under a heat advisory, President Joe Biden said sweltering temperatures were “the greatest concern”.
Beryl entered Texas from the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 1 hurricane early on Monday. At least seven people died in the storm in Texas, with another person killed in neighbouring Louisiana, authorities said.
The total death toll from the record-breaking hurricane has risen to at least 18 after it tore through the Caribbean last week – at one point as a Category 5 hurricane, the highest recordable strength.
Some two million households in Texas were without electricity on Tuesday evening due to damaged power grids, even as temperatures were forecast to reach 41 degrees Celsius with humidity factored in.
“The greatest concern right now is the power outages and extreme heat that is impacting Texans,” Biden said in a statement.
Another 14,000 homes were also without power in Louisiana, according to the poweroutage.us tracker.
Air-conditioned shelters for residents were set up while crews worked to restore service.
Beryl weakened on Tuesday and was heading northeast through the midwest United States with 45 kilometres per hour winds, the US National Hurricane Centre said, warning it could still generate flooding and tornadoes.
The sprawling city of Houston, home to 2.3 million people, was badly battered by hurricane-strength winds and flooding.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said on X that a 53-year-old man and 74-year-old woman had died in separate incidents of trees falling on houses.
