1 year later: Hurricane Beryl and the wind damage that could be felt for generations

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- July 8, 2025, marked one year since Hurricane Beryl, which many recall as the worst wind event the region has seen from a tropical system since Hurricane Ike. The city of Houston experienced hurricane-force wind gusts for several hours as the storm made landfall. The tree damage was extensive, and as ABC13 Meteorologist Elyse Smith learns, much of it could have been prevented.

Local arborist Louis Flory with Ability Trees wasn't surprised by the tree damage left behind by Hurricane Beryl. He recalls that in the days and weeks after the storm, many of the properties he helped with damage had trees with canopies that were not well-maintained.

"A lot of trees were overgrown, hanging too low, very dense, too thick," Flory said. "And when that wind blew in here, the ground was saturated, extremely wet, and the trees were so thick the wind blew the trees over."

Many of those trees were well-established, decades-old trees. Flory estimates that many of the larger trees damaged in Beryl were around 30 to 40 years old.

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One of the hardest hit spots was along the 290 corridor in northwest Harris County, the same area ravaged by the derecho just two months prior in mid-May of 2024.

In the Cypress area, there was a measured wind gust of 63 miles per hour during Hurricane Beryl. The derecho, for comparison, brought 60 to 80 miles per hour gusts to those neighborhoods as well as two EF1 tornadoes.

That's why Flory advocates being proactive when it comes to Mother Nature rather than reactive. He recommends having an arborist inspect the trees on your property at least once a year. Twice? Even better.

And yes, it can be expensive and cost hundreds to thousands of dollars to have this maintenance done every year. Flory's reaction to the latter: "That's a small price to pay after the storm comes in and blows your entire asset down your tree. Now you've lost this beautiful tree in your front yard, not to mention all the damage it's done to the property."

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