Tropical Storm "Beryl" has weakened to a tropical depression but is still carrying heavy rainfall and the risk of tornadoes after it crossed the Texas coast last night, leaving more than three million people and scores of businesses without power in the Houston area, the Associated Press reported.
Authorities in Texas said it would take days to restore power.
Within hours after "Beryl" made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane, it weakened to a tropical storm, far weaker than the Category 5 hurricane that wreaked havoc in Mexico and the Caribbean last weekend.
However, the fast-moving storm's winds and heavy rainfall were still strong enough to down hundreds of trees and sweep dozens of cars onto flooded roads.
At least three people were killed when trees fell on homes, and the US National Hurricane Center said damaging winds and flash flooding will continue as Beryl makes landfall. moves inland. However, there are currently no reports of widespread damage.
Meanwhile, officials in Jamaica said the population there would have to deal with food shortages after Hurricane Beryl, which some estimates destroyed more than $6.4 million worth of food crops and supporting infrastructure.
Jamaican Agriculture Minister Floyd Green said preliminary estimates indicated significant damage to crops, including vegetables, root crops and fruits such as breadfruit, mangoes and bananas, which are popular food sources.
He also said livestock and fisheries were also significantly affected by the storm, which produced strong winds and rainfall as it moved west along Jamaica's southern coast.