Hurricane Rita has crashed ashore with a 20ft (6m) storm surge into low-lying areas along the Texas-Louisiana border.

The US National Hurricane Center says winds of up to 120mph (193km/h) hit land at about 0600 GMT (0100 local).

The towns of Sabine Pass in Texas and Cameron in Louisiana took the initial fury of the hurricane.

Power went down in towns across the region as electricity stations erupted pyrotechnically, though most people in the target zone have already fled.

Rita was downgraded to a category three hurricane before its arrival, but experts warned the low-lying coast could still be swamped by a storm surge from the sea, driving "large and dangerous battering" waves.

The storm was also expected to dump up to 25in (60cm) of rain.