ROCKPORT, Texas — Our own meteorologist Jeremy Baker is in Rockport on the Texas coast and of Beryl's arrival.
The town was decimated by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 when it made landfall as a category four with 140 mph winds. Buildings destroyed, and many people having to close their businesses, some even relocating. Of course that was before Harvey dumped 60 inches of rain on Houston.
This storm, at least right now, doesn't appear to be quite the monster Harvey was, but with the way this season is starting, I wouldn't put anything past Mother Nature.
The City of Rockport is urging it's residents to plan, prepare and act.
Plan for dangerous wind of equivalent strong tropical storm force or even higher. Prepare with efforts to protect life and property which should now be well underway and prepare for significant wind damage. Also, act now to complete preparations before the wind becomes hazardous.
Officials are also concerned about the possibility of the life-threatening storm surge.
Peak storm surge inundation is expected to be somewhere between three and five feet within surge prone areas. And the window of concern is right now through Monday. Also, don't forget about rip currents which will cause life-threatening beach conditions through the weekend.
How concerned are people here? Belinda Garcia from Rockport told us, "Slightly I guess. Its not as bad as Harvey but we're concerned. Just taking it all in and seeing what happens."
Patrick VanDohlen from San Antonio, who was cutting his vacation short added, "Most people didn't seem to upset or concerned this morning. Lots of fishermen out and we went out and put the boat up."
And people are urged to sign up for the CodeRED Emergency Notification System which rapidly informs citizens about any emergency situation they need to know about. Citizens with caller ID on their phones should take note that the caller name that appears is "CodeRED" and that the call will have a 361 area code. The system will call each telephone number in the database.
You can sign up for code red by texting ARANSAS to 99411.
The Rockport Police Department is stressing there are no shelters in Aransas County.
So along with possible loss of power and other utilities, once the weather goes rapidly downhill it could affect the ability of first responders to respond to emergencies.