Hurricane Beryl tracker: Death toll rises to 6 in Texas, over 2 million without power

Tropical Storm Beryl has inundated the Houston area with 5 to 9 inches of rain as it continues to slam east Texas with flooding and gusty winds.

Wind gusts reached 84 mph in Houston and 94 mph in Freeport, Texas.

Beryl has also brought tornadoes to east Texas. A tornado watch is in effect through Monday night in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.

The storm will steadily weaken through the afternoon. Beryl was the earliest in the season hurricane to make landfall in Texas since Bonnie in 1986.

-ABC News’ Kenton Gewecke

Beryl is expected to remain a tropical storm as its center passes near Lufkin in east Texas on Monday night.

By Tuesday morning, Beryl will reach Arkansas and is expected to weaken to a tropical depression.

Rain from Beryl will hit Indiana Tuesday morning and then move into Detroit Tuesday night.

Beryl’s remnants will then drop heavy rain in Vermont on Wednesday.

The rain will reach Washington, D.C., Wednesday evening and into Philadelphia and New York City overnight into Thursday morning. Flash flooding is possible.

Power has been knocked out to more than 2.7 million customers in Texas as Hurricane Beryl slams the state with powerful winds and torrential rain.

ABC Houston station KTRK briefly lost power in its newsroom Monday morning.

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.