Beryl is slamming Texas with powerful winds and torrential rain.
Tropical Storm Beryl is tearing across Texas after making landfall in the state as a Category 1 hurricane Monday morning.
At least six people have been killed by fallen trees or by drowning and more than 2 million customers are without power across Texas due to torrential rain and powerful winds.
Hurricane Beryl first killed at least seven people in the Windward Islands before skirting south of Jamaica, shutting down communications, stranding tourists and delivering storm surge and flooding rain to the island.
Houston firefighters rescued a man who was trapped on his submerged truck as the floodwaters rapidly rose around him.
The rescuers dropped a life preserver ring to him and guided him to the shore.
Eight people have been rescued in Houston so far, according to Houston police.
"Shelter in place -- do not put our first responders in further danger," Houston Mayor John Whitmire said at a news conference.
A 53-year-old man was killed by a fallen tree while riding out Hurricane Beryl with his family, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.
The man, his wife and children were in a house in Atascocita in the Houston area when an oak tree fell on the roof, hitting the rafters, the sheriff said. The structure then fell on the man, killing him.
His wife and children were not hurt, the sheriff said Monday morning.
Hours later, the sheriff said a 74-year-old woman was killed when a tree fell on a home in Houston.
President Joe Biden is receiving regular updates on Beryl as the storm rips across Texas, according to a White House official.
Senior White House officials are in close contact with their state and local counterparts and employees from the Federal Emergency Management Agency are standing by to offer support, the official said.
"The U.S. Coast Guard and FEMA have prepositioned response personnel including search and rescue teams, and FEMA has staged bottled water, meals, tarps and electric generators in case they are needed," the official said.
Up to 7 inches of rain has pounded the Houston and Galveston areas so far and another 2 to 4 inches of rain is in the forecast for the next few hours.
The storm surge has topped 6 feet.
Wind gusts have reached a whopping 94 mph in Freeport, Texas; 82 mph in Galveston Bay, Texas; and 84 mph at Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport.
Flood warnings and tornado warnings are in effect in the Houston area through Monday afternoon.
Tornadoes have also been reported.
-ABC News’ Max Golembo
