Storm Beryl kills two Texans, leaves 2.7 million without power

WASHINGTON, The Tropical Storm Beryl killed Monday two people in the US city of Houston and left more than 2.7 million people in Texas without powers, according to the National Weather Service. The storm is making a slow, ruinous passage out of Houston, where it is flooding highways and knocking out power lines. As of 3 p.m. local time Monday, as the eye of the storm moved over the western Houston suburbs, more than 2.7 million Texans were without power, according to tracking site PowerOutage.us. Much of the already flood-prone city has experienced 5 to 8 inches of rain, with some particularly unlucky neighborhoods experiencing more than 10, according to Harris County's Flood Warning System. Homes in Houston's lower-income northeast have flooded, one nonprofit told The Hill, as have many of the city's major freeways. One man was rescued from the cab of his truck as the water rose along Highway 288. Winds ripped trees from the ground, roots and all. While the storm has weakened, its current path is set to bring it over more than a dozen flood-prone communities across the Ohio Valley and Upper Midwest before the week's end. Beryl has stood out for its early-season ferocity, fueled by a hot ocean and a warming world, as well as its passage over the nation's petrochemical heartland. Two people were killed after trees fell on their houses: a man in the Houston suburb of Humble and a woman in Harris County, authorities said. Hundreds of trees fell in the county, crushing vehicles and damaging homes, said Precinct 4 County Constable Mark Herman. In a press statement, the White House said President Joe Biden is receiving regular updates from his team on Hurricane Beryl as it moves east up the coast of Texas after making landfall this morning. Senior White House officials remain in close contact with their state and local counterparts. Source: Kuwait News Agency