By Arathy Somasekhar
HOUSTON (Reuters) – Ports along the Texas coast began closing or restricting vessel traffic on Sunday to prepare for Tropical Storm Beryl, which is expected to strengthen again into a Category 1 hurricane before hitting the area late tonight.
The storm, which at one point strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane, left a deadly trail of destruction across the Caribbean, passing through Jamaica, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and causing heavy rains in northern Venezuela.
The Port of Corpus Christi said it was closed after the Coast Guard captain set the condition “Zulu” on Sunday. No ships can enter, transit or remain without the captain’s permission as hurricane-force winds were expected within 12 hours.
Corpus Christi, about 200 miles from Houston, is the largest U.S. export hub. Port closures could cause a temporary halt to crude oil exports, crude oil shipments to refineries and motor fuels from those plants.
Meanwhile, the ports of Houston, Galveston, Freeport and Texas City were under “Yankee” conditions. As hurricane-force winds were forecast for the next 24 hours, all inbound vessel traffic at these ports was suspended.