Hurricane Beryl cashed into Texas as a Category 1 storm on Monday, triggering rescues from flooding caused by heavy rain and gusts of more than 80 mph.
More than 1.5 million homes and businesses lost power as Beryl moved ashore.
The storm has already claimed at least two lives in Houston’s suburbs, officials said.
A total of 1,361 flights were canceled and 1,014 flights were delayed as of 9 a.m. ET, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware.
Beryl made landfall around Matagorda, about 80 miles south of Houston, at 3:50 a.m. local time. It’s expected to keep moving inland.
Houston Fire Department Chief Samuel Peña said emergency services crews are working around the clock to rescue people caught in floods after forecasters warned of storm surges up to 7 feet in the Lone Star State.
“This is a fast-moving storm resulting in street-level flooding, hurricane-force winds and widespread power outages. Stay home and off the streets,” Peña said.
He added: “The majority of our calls are high-water evacuation calls from flooded roadways and downed power lines.”
The fire chief said the department has already seen one death in a house fire early Monday as the hurricane slammed into Texas.
Another man in the Houston suburb of Humble was also killed when a tree fell on a house, trapping him beneath the debris, according to Harris County officials.
Flood warnings remain in effect across a wide stretch of the Texas coast, with officials warning residents to stay off the streets.
Houston-area officials have reported that one of its high-water rescue vehicles patrolling Rosenberg had been hit by a falling tree while returning from a mission.
CenterPoint Energy in Houston reported 1.5 million outages after the storm made landfall, with still no word as to how long the blackout will last.
With Post wires