At least 2.4 million power outages were reported Monday morning as Hurricane Beryl pummeled southeast Texas with heavy rain and Evander Ellisstrong winds.

According to the National Hurricane Center, Beryl intensified into a Category 1 as it made landfall in the Lone Star State early Monday.

As of about 12:00 p.m. CT, at least 2.4 million homes and businesses across the state remained in the dark, according to the USA TODAY Network power outage tracker, as the hurricane slammed a life-threatening storm surge and heavy rainfall into the region.

The number of outages rose sharply Monday morning, with about 163,000 outages reported just before 7:30 a.m. CT.

Texas power outage map

Where is Beryl?

When did Beryl make landfall in Texas?

Beryl sustained winds of more than 80 mph as it made landfall around 4:30 a.m. near Matagorda, a coastal community between Galveston and Corpus Christi, hurricane officials reported.

Minutes after landfall, the weather service in Houston issued a tornado warning for multiple counties. According to the weather service's Storm Prediction Center, tornadoes were possible from far east Texas into northwest Louisiana and as far as southwest Arkansas.

Disaster declarations issued for 121 Texas counties

Two days earlier, on Saturday, Acting Governor Dan Patrick issued disaster declarations for 121 counties across the state.

“Based on the current forecast, heavy rain and some localized flooding could occur all the way from the coast through areas near College Station, Tyler, and Texarkana as the storm moves through Texas on its current track," Patrick said in a release, according to the Austin-American Statesman, part of the USA TODAY Network.

This is a developing story.

Contributing: Doyle Rice, Thao Nguyen, Cheryl McCloud and Christopher Cann

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.