Beryl killed two and left more than 2 million people in Houston without power as temperatures soar to 90F, prompting Biden to declare a state of emergency.
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After leaving a trail of destruction across the eastern Caribbean and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and at least 11 dead, Beryl slammed into southeast Texas and Louisiana on Monday morning as a Category 1 hurricane, knocking out power lines for more than 2 million people.
According to media reports, the storm, which has since been downgraded to a tropical depression, has killed seven people in Texas’s Harris and Montgomery counties and one in neighbouring Louisiana.
As of Tuesday evening, more than 1,8 million Texans were still without power, according to poweroutage.us. In a statement, Texas-based utility provider CenterPoint Energy said Beryl’s destructive winds caused “significant damage” to parts of the electric grid, knocking down hundreds of poles. The provider said it would restore 1 million of the 2.26 million impacted customers by the end of Wednesday.
While not unusual at this time of year, temperatures in the capital Houston are reaching highs of 90F (32C), prompting the National Weather Service to issue a heat advisory that is expected to stay in place at least until 8pm on Wednesday. The state’s heat index value – a measure of what the temperature feels like to the human body when relative humidity is accounted for – is expected to reach highs of 106F (41C). With millions of people without power and thus unable to resort to air conditioning, authorities warned of possible heat-related illnesses and prompted residents to avoid strenuous outdoors activities and keep hydrated.
Stress on human bodies caused by heat prevents normal daily activities and our ability to cool down properly. Areas that generally have more humidity can also put lives at risk. Sweat helps our bodies cool off, but humidity changes the way sweat evaporates from the body. Not being able to cool down puts people’s health at risk, and can lead to increased cardiovascular and respiratory complications, dehydration, heatstroke, higher blood pressure, and sleep deprivation.
Excessively hot and humid conditions can be deadly, as they affect humans’ thermoregulation, the process that maintains a steady internal body temperature – ideally between 36.5 to 37.5C – despite changes in external conditions. In other words, when the threshold – a theoretical upper limit of the human body’s adaptability to extreme heat, which scientists set at 35C – is breached, sweating will not be enough to cool off the body. An October 2023 study warned that heat and humidity levels will reach lethal levels for hours, days, and even weeks in some parts of the world by the end of the century – even below 2C of warming – making it impossible to stay outdoors.
The increase in extreme heat is a direct result of our warming planet. As greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the primary drivers of global warming, trap heat in the atmosphere, raising Earth’s surface temperature, heatwaves are getting hotter and longer.
US President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency for almost half of Texas’ counties, which will help cover some costs from the storm. According to private weather provider service AccuWeather, the preliminary estimate of the total damage and economic loss caused by Beryl in the US alone is $28-32 billion.
More on the topic: Opinion – Hurricane Beryl: Another Harbinger That We Are Not Doing Enough
An Early Hurricane Season
With maximum sustained wind speeds of more than 160mph (257km/h), Beryl became the earliest Category 5 Atlantic hurricane on record.
In May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) warned that this year’s Atlantic hurricane season will likely be “above-normal,” owing to near-record ocean heat and La Niña condition. If true, the predictions would make this year the ninth consecutive to see an above-normal hurricane season, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
La Niña, a phenomenon that typically occurs every 3 to 5 years, is expected to develop between July and September this year. It is associated with the periodic cooling of ocean surface temperatures in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific, weaker Atlantic trade winds and less atmospheric stability, conditions that are conductive to Atlantic hurricane activity.
Hurricanes – also known as typhoons in the northwestern Pacific and cyclones in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific – are a rather common, natural weather phenomenon, though there has been a significant increase in their intensity in recent decades, which scientific observations link to anthropogenic climate change. These abnormal trends are attributed largely to the increased ocean temperatures. As ocean surfaces warm, so does the air above it, causing water to be carried up to high altitudes to form clouds, while leaving a low pressure zone beneath causing more air to rush in. As these systems build up, thunderstorms are formed, and if there are no strong winds to slow it down, they can become hurricanes. While the number of hurricanes is not necessarily increasing, those that do form are becoming more destructive – generating heavier rain and a higher storm surge.
Featured image: U.S. Army National Guard.
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