By Sarah Morland (Reuters) -Powerful Hurricane Beryl was the 2024 Atlantic season's first hurricane and the earliest storm on record to reach the strongest possible ranking of Category 5, before weakening to a tropical storm as it barrelled toward Texas on Sunday.

By Sarah Morland (Reuters) -Hurricane Beryl made landfall near the coastal town of Matagorda in Texas on Monday, bringing dangerous storm surges along the coast and packing strong winds and heavy rain

Tropical Storm Beryl is expected to bring heavy rainfall and tropical storm force wind gusts to far eastern areas of South Central Texas, according to the

Powerful Hurricane Beryl was the 2024 Atlantic season's first hurricane and the earliest storm on record to reach the strongest possible ranking of Category 5, before weakening to Category 4 as it barrelled towards Jamaica on Wednesday.

Tropical Storm Beryl has formed east of the Caribbean islands in the tropical Atlantic, and it's expected to strengthen into a hurricane as it heads west in the days ahead.

More than a thousand flights were canceled as the state braced for the now Category 1 storm, which caused catastrophic damage during its path across the Caribbean.

Hurricane Beryl brought heavy rains and strong winds to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Thursday evening, July 4 to Friday, July 5. Beryl made landfall near Tulum as a Category 2

ABOVE: Previous coverageBeryl, now a tropical storm, continues to leave a destructive path across the Caribbean, but new tracks show the storm approaching the United States soon.Sign up for our NewslettersThe dangerous storm was downgraded from a Category 5 hurricane to a Category 4 on Tuesday afternoon before slamming into Jamaica on Wednesday afternoon.