Beryl, now a tropical storm, has killed two people in the Houston region

The mayor of Houston declared the city to be in "rescue mode" following Beryl's strong winds, rain, and flooding.

At a news conference on Monday, Houston Mayor John Whitmire declared the situation "an emergency" and urged everyone to remain indoors. He claimed that most of the city had more than 10 inches of water, streets that were closed, traffic lights that weren't working, and wind gusts strong enough to cause hurricanes.

He noted that officials are keeping an eye out for flooding in the San Jacinto River.

“I plead with you to shelter in place. Do not put our first responders in further danger,” he said, adding the city has received more than 400 calls to 911 in the last hour.

According to local police, at least two people—a 53-year-old man and a 74-year-old woman—have perished in the Houston region as a result of trees falling on dwellings.

“The life safety posture is what we’re focusing on right now. And we’re going to continue this until the storm passes. And then we’re going to move into the recovery and consequence management,” Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña said.

At least 11 people have already died as a result of the hurricane in the last week in Venezuela, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and now Texas.

There are almost 2.5 million users without electricity.

On Monday, hundreds of flights into and out of Texas are being canceled due to the storm, including about 529 flights out of Houston's George Bush International Airport, which accounts for 80% of all flights that originate there.