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Hurricane Beryl slammed into the Texas coast Monday morning, unleashing hurricane-force winds, widespread power outages and flash flooding.

The storm roared ashore, making landfall near Matagorda at 3:50 a.m. CT as a Category 1 hurricane with gusts over 80 mph. Hundreds of thousands of electrical customers in Texas have already lost power, according to PowerOutage.us.

The storm first unleashed its fury on Surfside Beach, as FOX Weather crews captured the winds whipping through trees, even breaking off part of a palm tree.

The storm's winds have also created a life-threatening storm surge that is inundating coastal communities, and it will only get worse just before 8 a.m. as high tide approaches. Houston will face dangerous weather conditions through the morning as the storm's center moves inland.

Peak storm surge could reach up to 7 feet as the tide rises in the mid-morning, and areas such as Galveston Bay could see levels nearing 6 feet as water accumulates in the bay, the National Hurricane Center warns.




As the powerful storm surge began to sweep into Surfside Beach with force, FOX Weather crews found themselves in a precarious situation and had to quickly retreat to higher ground to ensure their safety.

Unlike other coastal regions, the Texas coastline experiences longer high tides, the FOX Forecast Center said. This, combined with the extended duration of onshore wind, could keep water levels high for a couple of days.

Numerous wind gusts topping 80 mph will also continue through the midday hours.


"It feels like the entire backs of my legs are on fire because it stings," FOX Weather Meteorologist Britta Merwin said as she reported live from Surfside Beach, early Monday morning. "The raindrops almost turn into a needle head. Almost like, as if you were getting a tattoo. Like, it's that kind of feel of that persistent needle pressure against your skin."

Houston will not escape the damaging wind threat either. The core of Beryl has already brushed the metro with 60-plus mph wind gusts.

Beryl formed on June 29 and became the season's first hurricane. After it rapidly intensified across the Atlantic and into the Caribbean, the storm broke multiple records throughout its trek. The storm has killed at least 10 people as it made its journey across the Caribbean.