Hurricane Alex slams northern Mexico

Hurricane Alex came ashore in northern Mexico as a Category 2 hurrricane with winds in excess of 100 MPH around the eye. Alex's strength actually peaked as the eye of the storm crossed the coast. Alex nrough torrential rain and winds from Mexico into southern Texas throughout the day and night Wednesday.

Hurricane Alex pounds northern Mexico; at least 2 killed (Los Angeles Times)

Remnants of Hurricane Alex on Thursday raked northern Mexico with damaging winds and heavy rains, knocking out power to thousands of homes and causing floods that killed at least two people.

Alex, which roared in from the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane, weakened to a tropical storm as it crossed the states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon into Mexico's northern interior.

But high winds and torrential rain left much of the region without electricity or working telephones, forced schools to close and sent rivers over their banks in Monterrey, the capital of Nuevo Leon and Mexico's most important industrial city.

Monterrey authorities said two men died after being dragged by floodwaters, though some news reports put the toll at five.

Nuevo Leon Gov. Rodrigo Medina said more than 4,000 people were evacuated around Monterrey, where drenching rains filled the Santa Catarina River and other channels that normally carry little water. The governor said the capital had received about 10 inches of rain by midday, with some areas getting even more.

Rainbands washed ashore along the entire Texas coast from Tuesday on dumping heavy rain along the entire region. Flooding continues to be a major concern even though the worst threat has past.

Valley monitors continuing threats from Alex (The Monitor)

The Rio Grande Valley dodged the worst of Hurricane Alex, but the storm’s real threat may still be on its way, emergency management officials said Thursday.

Comparing local drainage systems to an already full bathtub, officials worried that runoff from the storm’s path up the Rio Grande could overwhelm floodways, drainage canals and reservoirs before they could drain the rainwater from Wednesday’s storms.

As of Thursday morning, Hidalgo County’s drainage systems were at about 90 percent capacity.

“The key now is to see where this water goes,” said Hidalgo County Rene Ramirez. “We’ll find out more in the next 24 to 48 hours.”

Alex made landfall about 9 p.m. along the central Tamaulipas coast -- about 110 miles south of Brownsville. The Category 2 storm dumped torrential rains upon the region’s small fishing villages and flooded cities like Matamoros.

As of 10 a.m., it had weakened to a tropical storm centered about 150 miles east of Zacatecas, Zac., Mexico and was expected to dissipate over the country’s highlands this evening, according to the National Weather Service.