Southeast Texas residents awoke this morning to flooded homes, streets and neighborhoods as thunderstorms dumped heavy rains Friday night and early Saturday. The storms also produced at least one fatality.

Local media reported Gabriel Granados, 35, of San Antonio, was killed overnight while working on the second floor of an apartment building under construction.

Granados and another worker, ready to put up the last piece of drywall before calling it a day, were pushed toward the balcony by strong winds. Granados fell 16 feet to his death.

According to the other man, who survived, Granados died almost instantly. Granados is survived by a wife and six children.

Liberty County was the hardest hit by a rain tally of 19.5 inches, forcing many families to abandon their homes. About 70 people stayed overnight at a Red Cross shelter set up at a nearby church.

“It got pretty bad," said Pastor Jim Clemmons of North Main Baptist Church in Liberty. "We've had major damage here. It seems to have been contained to the north central side of the city."

Liberty, which has about 9,000 residents, is about 51 miles northeast from Houston. The thunderstorms forced shut down Bush Intercontinental Airport for about two hours Friday night, according to Ernie DeSoto, Spokespan for Houston's Aviation Department.

"One of the main roads leading to the airport was flooded last night," he said. "Around 50 cars were stalled out in the water. We had a number of our gates that were inoperable because of flooding. It was minor. This morning we are running normal."

Runoff from the rainfall caused minor flooding along Garners, Greens and Halls bayous located in Northeast and North Central Harris County.

Damage from the storms in North Texas was minimal. Some secondary roads in Kaufman and Ellis counties were closed due to flooding. “This has just been a pretty good solid rain," said weather service forecaster Michael Mach.