Texas coastal residents told to expect power outages, flooding as Beryl moves closer to landfall Boston 25 News [Video]

MATAGORDA, Texas — (AP) — Beryl began lashing Texas with rain and intensifiying winds Sunday as coastal residents boarded up windows, left beach towns under evacuation orders and prepared for the powerful storm that has already cut a deadly path through parts of Mexico and the Carribean.

Although Beryl remained a tropical storm Sunday as it churned toward Texas, forecasters expected it to regain hurricane strength in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico before making landfall early Monday. The storm was projected to come ashore near the small coastal town of Matagorda, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) south of Houston, but officials cautioned the path could still change.

Texas officials warned the storm would cause power outages and flooding but also expressed worry that not enough coastal residents and beach vacationers in Beryl’s path were heeding warnings to leave.

“One of the things that kind of trigger our …