Beryl hit the southern United States on Monday morning as a category one hurricane, but it has since been downgraded to a tropical depression.

Tropical Storm Beryl was expected to grow into a Category 2 hurricane by the time it makes landfall in the Houston.

Hurricane Beryl slammed into Texas early Monday, knocking out power to nearly 3 million homes and businesses, 

Texas state and local officials warned it could take several days to restore power after Beryl .

The winds and rains of the fast moving storm knocked down hundreds of trees.

Houston took a hard hit as CenterPoint Energy reported more than 2 million homes and businesses without power .

More than 1,100 flights were cancelled at Houston's main airport on Monday, according to flightaware.com.

Houston is a low-lying coastal city, making it prone to flooding.

Beryl was expected to continue to lose strength but flash flooding and heavy rain remain a risk.

More than 2,500 emergency responders have been made ready to deal with Beryl's aftermath.