7/17/24 – After days of uncertainty about the trajectory of Hurricane Beryl, at 6 AM on 7/9/24, radar indicated that the eye of the storm had moved onshore between Lake Jackson and Bay City. The National Weather Service (NWS) had issued Hurricane, Tropical Storm, and Storm Surge Warnings for much of the upper Texas Coast.

In the North Houston area – including Kingwood, Humble, Huffman and Spring – NWS issued a Tropical Storm Warning, a Flash Flood Warning, a Flood Watch, and a Tornado Watch.

When the storm had passed the Lake Houston Area, it became clear that Beryl’s winds did far more damage than any flooding from its rains.

I’m writing this post for the historical record and also for readers to share with families who may live out of the area.

Wind Damage: Beryl’s Lasting Legacy in Lake Houston Area

According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC) at 4 AM on July 9th, Beryl had maximum sustained winds near 80 MPH. At Bush Intercontinental Airport, maximum sustained winds reached around 65 MPH with gusts up to 90MPH…for hours.

Those winds took a terrible toll on the area’s abundant, majestic trees. The very thing that makes the Lake Houston area exceptionally beautiful also makes it very vulnerable to storms like Beryl. See below.

Were Tornadoes Present?

We may never know whether minor tornadoes were embedded within the northeast fringes of Beryl. The pattern of tree damage above suggested there could have been.

Jeff Lindner, Harris County’s meteorologist, acknowledged the possibility, but felt the more likely explanation was shifting winds as the storm moved through the area.

When asked to explain the jumbled pattern of tree damage in the photo above, he said, “Winds in Northeast Harris County would have changed from ENE well ahead of the center to ESE as the center entered western Harris County. Then they would have changed to SSW as the center passed to the northwest and north.”

“While NE Harris County did not go through the eye and a 180 degree wind shift, there was still enough shifting of the winds to cause trees to fall in different directions,” added Lindner. “Any tornadoes in the outer circulation would have been small and lasted less than a few minutes. That is common with tornadoes in landfalling tropical systems.”

Lindner concluded, “Mostly just strong winds caused all the damage. There were a few tornadoes in the outer bands early Monday…prior to sunrise, but the widespread winds of 45-55 MPH and gusts of 75-85 MPH did most of the damage.”

Losing Power for Extended Periods

Thousands of trees fell in the Lake Houston area, knocking out power for more than a week to entire neighborhoods. CenterPoint estimated that Beryl left more than 2.2 million people without electricity.

Fallen trees also crushed roofs, blocked streets, and trapped people in sweltering neighborhoods as their ice melted and food rotted.

In the early days after the storm, the few open gasoline stations had impossibly long lines. I observed two stretching for more than a half mile.

Local businesses and restaurants were shuttered. So was Deerbrook Mall.

With no electricity, Wi-Fi systems went down and people lost access to internet services.

Cell towers that survived quickly became overburdened. They often stopped working sporadically and mysteriously, blocking communication with the outside world and worried families.

At the very least, they made communication painfully slow. People were in the dark, literally and figuratively…unless they had backup generators. And it wasn’t long before many of those started to fail also.

Faced with heat exhaustion, hunger, and heartbreak, people began demanding answers. Frustration turned into anger.

Stately trees snapped like toothpicks.

As people began clearing downed trees from their yards and roofs, they piled the debris at curbs. That made driving treacherous, especially at night with streetlights and traffic lights knocked out.

At noon yesterday, three shopping centers on Kingwood Drive near US59 were still without power.

Exhausted linemen turned their parking lots into corporate lunch rooms.

Problems Persist

Ten days after Beryl, many areas remain without power. And on many of those days, FEMA issued nonstop Excessive Heat Warnings, as heat indexes crept well over the 105 degree threshold.

For the first time since starting this blog, I could not post stories. Without electricity, I lost my Wi-Fi. None of the usual backup locations, like Starbucks, were available – even after trees were cleared from the roads.

Cellular communications were not a backup either. They kept cutting in and out.

Gasoline was impossible to get for days. That limited my ability to explore damage in surrounding areas.

And when I could finally move around, I couldn’t recharge batteries for my drone or camera – until a neighbor with a backup generator found a supplier selling propane. Then the neighbor volunteered to recharge the batteries for me.

Life has just begun its long, slow return to normalcy. After power is restored to everyone, we still have a massive cleanup effort in front of us.

Lessons of Beryl

As bits and pieces of my life came back together, three thoughts struck me.

1. We’re all in this together. I observed an outpouring of warmth from neighbors and friends. We constantly checked on each other to see if we could help each other in any way.
2. Linemen, often from other states, toiled ceaselessly to help restore our power. They exemplify the spirit of “neighbors helping neighbors” that made this county great.
3. In stark contrast, the glimpses of attack-dog, political discourse I got during the prolonged outage seemed strangely out of touch with the reality around me. Why was no one talking about hardening our infrastructure to avoid future disasters?

It’s something to ponder as we move into election season. Now…back to business.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 7/17/2024

2514 Days since Hurricane Harvey

PS – while trying to post this, I experienced six brief internet outages.