Beryl knocks out power to some Houston area car dealerships, prompts CarMax store closures

Beryl's arrival as a Category 1 hurricane in southeast Texas July 8 brought high winds and severe weather that knocked out power to some Houston dealerships and prompted store closures in the region.

Used-vehicle retailer CarMax Inc. temporarily closed seven stores and one vehicle auction location in the Houston market to "ensure everyone's safety," a spokesperson said in an email July 8.

Keating Auto Group, of Victoria, Texas, has 30 dealerships, including 11 in Houston. Those Houston stores unexpectedly ended up "on the dirty side" of Beryl's path when the storm changed direction, owner Ben Keating said.

"At our Toyota dealership in south Houston, part of a building was damaged," Keating told Automotive News. "Flying debris has injured some cars, and a fence blew away."

Power is out at one of the group's Nissan dealerships, he said. At another Keating dealership, Beryl's winds blew down light poles and felled trees. Water trickled into a store under construction, he said.

Penske Automotive Group Inc. does not have operations in Houston, but its stores in Pharr, more than 300 miles south of Houston near the Mexico border, and Austin, 165 miles to the west, are open and have power, a spokesperson told Automotive News. Penske's commercial truck dealership operations also are open.

Beryl, the season's earliest Category 5 hurricane on record, weakened from a hurricane after making landfall near the coastal Texas town of Matagorda with dangerous storm surges and heavy rain before moving across Houston, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

High winds and torrential rain killed at least two people, closed oil ports, grounded hundreds of flights and knocked out power to more than 2 million homes and businesses in southeast Texas July 8.

Most of Keating's Houston dealerships were still without power late July 8. Keating anticipates "throwing away" July 8 as a day of no sales. Beryl also caused some disruption to the July 4 weekend, which is typically one of the group's best sales periods.

"Our sales were affected because nobody was going to shop for a car," Keating said. "They were more worried about preparing for a hurricane."

Keating Auto Group also recently faced operational disruptions from the CDK Global cyberattacks. Keating predicted Beryl will delay by an additional two to three days the stores' uploading of information into the recently functional dealership management system.

Keating said Beryl was "somewhat of a distraction," but he remains optimistic about keeping sales momentum. The group's newer stores are equipped with generators for use during future storms — necessary after Hurricane Harvey devastated the region in 2017.

Keating said only one dealership had a generator that was working July 8. But he expects power to be back on in 24 hours — 48 at the max, he said.

"I don't expect it to slow us down too much," Keating said. "Problems are the mother of invention."

Gail Kachadourian Howe, C.J. Moore and Reuters contributed to this report.