Relentless Hurricane Beryl smacks into Texas coast

Note: This story was compiled from multiple news sources.

INTERNATIONAL REPORT - Nearly a week after hitting Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, as well as Jamaica in the Caribbean, where it left 11 people dead, now-Category 1 storm Hurricane Beryl made landfall early Monday morning in Texas on the Matagorda Peninsula, about 85 miles southwest of Houston.

According to the National Weather Service, Beryl is expected to “bring very heavy rain, damaging hurricane-force winds and life-threatening storm surge to the Texas coast.” Some of the major metropolitan areas, including the Houston/Galveston vicinity, were expected to be at risk over the next several hours Beryl is expected to weaken as it travels overland on Monday, becoming a tropical storm.

Reuters reported that Hurricane Beryl caused widespread flight cancellations in Texas cities including Austin, Corpus Christi, Harlingen and Houston.

"Numerous to widespread areas of flash flooding can be expected, and this will include areas of considerable to severe urban flash flooding with life-threatening impacts expected," it added. "Some of the major metropolitan areas including the Houston/Galveston vicinity will be at particular risk over the next several hours."

Sandals cleans up

After hitting Jamaica on Wednesday, Sandals Chief Communications & Strategy Officer Maggie Rivera told Hotel Investment Today that all its guests and team members are safe. Its resorts in the storm’s path throughout Jamaica, Barbados, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, and Grenada remained open, where guests had access to many amenities as the team worked to get back to normal.

On Thursday, Sandals reported some areas in Jamaica were without power or WiFi access, however resorts are equipped with backup power generators “to provide guests as much comfort as possible.”

Sandals stated on Thursday that they were “incredibly fortunate as the majority of work over the next few days involves addressing damage to trees and landscaping, returning outdoor furniture and supplies to common resort areas and bringing the full resort experience back online. Although regular commercial flights have been disrupted, airports in the region are quickly reopening and working to restore schedules.”

Mexico damage ‘minor’

After striking in the Caribbean, Hurricane Beryl hit Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula as a Category 2 storm late Thursday.

The head of Mexico’s civil defense agency said Beryl hadn’t caused any deaths or injuries there and that “damages were minor,” though tens of thousands of people remained without power, including in the resort area of Tulum.

Wind and rain continued into Friday morning where Army brigades were clearing fallen trees and power lines.