Beryl hammers Texas with three dead and millions to be without power for days: Live updates

Three people have died, and millions more in Texas could be left without power for days as the Tropical Storm Beryl continues to surge through the state.

After making landfall in the United States as a Category 1 hurricane on the coast of Matagorda on Monday morning, Beryl was downgraded to Tropical Storm as it traversed inland across eastern Texas, bringing heavy rainfall, strong winds and life-threatening conditions.

At least three people are believed to be dead, including two who were killed when trees fell on homes, according the National Hurricane Center.

A third person, a civilian employee of the Houston Police Department, was killed when he was trapped in flood waters under a highway overpass, Houston Mayor John Whitmire said.

More than 2.2 million homes and businesses were without power around Houston, the nation’s fourth-largest city, after Beryl blew through, according to the CenterPoint Energy utility.

Acting Texas Governor Dan Patrick said CenterPoint Energy was bringing in thousands of additional workers to help get the lights turned back on quicker. He said the storm toppled 10 transmission lines and that many of the outages were caused by fallen trees.

Beryl has already left a trail of destruction as a Category 5 hurricane through Mexico and the Caribbean .