Texas State Aquarium reopens after Beryl

NORTH BEACH, Texas — The aquarium began preparing for Hurricane Beryl on July 4 and remained open through Sunday.

Fernando Arevalo

Workers began installing flood protection around the aquarium on Thursday and completed it on Friday, July 5.

The devices are filled with seawater and act like sandbags, preventing storm surges and water from entering the aquarium. This morning, the devices released water back into the Bay.

Animals like alligators, otters, bald eagles and dolphins live on the ground floor, which is why they were moved to the main building of the Texas State Aquarium. The building is hurricane-proof and has emergency power systems in case of a power outage.

Texas State Aquarium President and CEO Jesse Gilbert said Tropical Storm Alberto gave the aquarium a good roadmap for how to cope with hurricane season.

Fernando Arevalo

“The aquarium lost $200,000 in revenue due to Tropical Storm Alberto. That would have had a huge impact. Especially considering it was a holiday weekend. I think being closed on Sunday probably really limited that loss of revenue. But there probably aren’t as many tourists in town after the storm. Hopefully that will change here soon,” says Jesse Gilbert.

The aquarium will return to normal opening hours by the end of the week.

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