Some in Mexico are taking precautions for Beryl, while others are enjoying the beach
Residents of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, across the border from Texas, breathed a sigh of relief this weekend when they learned that Beryl would bring only moderate to heavy rain to a few locations. The storm was originally expected to make two landfalls in Mexico.
However, the authorities took no risks.
“Although the trajectory may now indicate that it is more focused on the Texas side, we ask that we not be careless and not let our guard down,” Héctor Joel Villegas González, the secretary of state, said at a news conference on Saturday. “Natural phenomena have no word of honor.”
Earlier this week, officials in Tamaulipas set up temporary shelters, monitored dams, identified areas vulnerable to landslides and took measures to prevent potential flooding and roadblocks, such as clearing drains and pruning trees.
Some people followed the authorities’ advice. René Aguirre Garza, who coordinates a residential area in Matamoros that has been hit by flooding before, said some of his neighbors placed sandbags around their homes and cleaned their streets.
Others were more carefree. Despite officials warning residents to avoid popular Gulf Coast beaches, some beachgoers enjoyed the sun and waves.
On Saturday, tourists, vendors and fishermen strolled along Bagdad Beach in the municipality of Matamoros, unconcerned about the approaching storm. A few officials urged people to go home, but residents responded that nothing would happen because Beryl was already moving north.
“We’ll see what happens,” said Francisco Gabriel Ponce Lara, a rescue coordinator with the Matamoros Red Cross. “As far as I know, we’re only going to get about eight inches of rain.”
Just as it was no secret that Beryl would bring much-needed rain to Texas, officials in Tamaulipas also hoped the storm and hurricane season would end the state’s historic and brutal drought, at least temporarily.
In May, before Tropical Storm Alberto battered Mexico’s northeast coast, about 97.7 percent of Tamaulipas was covered that suffer from drought to some extentaccording to the country’s meteorological service. In its final report On Friday, the agency reported that number had dropped to 16.3 percent.
“Water has been a blessing for our state because the dams were empty,” Mr Villegas González told reporters on Saturday, adding that a system of lagoons that supplies water to thousands of local residents “has been restored.”
A tropical storm warning was in effect for the northeastern coast of Mexico on Sunday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Edyra Espriella contributed reporting from Matamoros, Mexico.
