Four dead, millions without power as Beryl blasts through Texas

Four people have died in Texas as tropical storm Beryl continues to move through the state, the mayor of Houston said on Monday, while millions remain without power.

It will likely take several days to restore the power supply, according to the operator. Some 2 to 3 million households are affected, the chairman of the company said.

Meanwhile, a tornado in Jasper County, on the border with the state of Louisiana, destroyed about thirty houses.

Beryl made landfall as a hurricane near the Texan town of Matagorda some 130 kilometres south-west of Houston early on Monday morning, but has since lost strength.

The U.S. National Hurricane Centre issued warnings for parts of Texas and Louisiana of further tornadoes, flash floods and strong winds. Meteorologists say there is an ongoing risk of life-threatening storm surges along the Gulf Coast.

Meteorologists predict that Beryl will continue moving north-eastwards in the coming days while weakening further.

Beryl formed in the Atlantic at the end of June and quickly strengthened into a major hurricane before making landfall in the south-eastern Caribbean on July 1.

The storm wreaked havoc across several islands, destroying homes and toppling power lines as it was temporarily upgraded to a Category 5 hurricane - the highest level - reaching sustained wind speeds of more than 251 kilometres per hour.

After brushing Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, Beryl made landfall in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula as a Category 2 hurricane, before moving on across the Gulf of Mexico towards the U.S. mainland.