Tropical Storm Beryl pummels northeast Texas

(NewsNation) — Tropical Storm Beryl sped across Texas on Monday, leaving four dead and almost 3 million people and businesses without power. The storm is now headed northeast, threatening to carve a harsh path over several more states in the coming days.

“Houston area conditions are gradually improving there, the winds are starting to come down, the rainfall has stopped, but there’s still flash flood warnings in place, still high water in many places, power’s out, damage to trees and powerlines is still a dangerous situation there. But in terms of the active weather, our focus is now shifting northward and eastward,” National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan said.

Brennan joined “NewsNation Now” to discuss the latest developments from the storm’s destruction, saying it is likely to spur some tornado warnings.

“We’re expecting 5 to 10 inches of rain, the potential for significant flash flooding. We’re also seeing the potential for tornadoes here and these rain bands to the east of Beryl’s circulation center in the vicinity of the Louisiana-Texas border right now,” Brennan said.

Acting Texas Gov. Dan Patrick is warning residents to stay indoors even after the storm has passed their area.

“We’re cautioning the people there, as we did in southeast Texas, to not drive because it may seem like there’s not a lot of rain where you are, and then you drive a few miles, and now suddenly you’ve hit six or eight inches of rain and flooding. And then you’re stuck, and we have to come and rescue you, and that puts your life and the rescuer’s life at risk,” Patrick told NewsNation.

Patrick says, according to the latest information, 2.7 million people are without power. State officials plan to address the most vulnerable groups first and then work to restore the circuits that affect the most people.

“We asked people just to help other people. I’m not worried about that because Texans are great and doing that and so for the people that don’t have air conditioning, if they have a senior citizen or anyone who can’t stand the heat, take him to a public place. We have shelters opening up. So make sure they’re taking care,” Patrick said.

Hours after Beryl swept ashore as a Category 1 hurricane, it weakened into a tropical storm, far less powerful than the Category 5 behemoth that tore a deadly path of destruction through parts of Mexico and the Caribbean last weekend.

Houston and Harris County officials said power crews would be sent into the area to restore service as quickly as possible, an urgent priority for homes also left without air conditioning in the middle of summer. Temperatures, which had cooled slightly with the storm, were expected to reach back into the 90s as early as Tuesday.