Tropical storm blows into Texas

2010-09-07 13:31

McAllen - Tropical Storm Hermine rolled into south Texas early on Tuesday, bringing heavy rains and strong winds to an area battered by Hurricane Alex earlier this summer.

Hermine made landfall in north eastern Mexico late on Monday and crossed into Texas within hours, bringing with it winds of up to 100km/h.

It moved on a path similar to the one Hurricane Alex took in late June, and like that category one storm, threatened to dump up to a foot of rain in some areas and cause flash flooding.

Hermine was no Alex in terms of strength, but Hermine wasn't taken lightly.

Mexican emergency officials in Tamaulipas worked to evacuate 3 500 people around Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, Texas, and schools on both sides of the border cancelled classes on Tuesday.

By early Tuesday, the centre of the storm had crossed the Rio Grande River.

The National Hurricane Centre said the storm was about 15km south-southwest of Harlingen, Texas, and 30km north west of Brownsville. It was moving north-northwest at 22km/h.

Tropical storm warning

A tropical storm warning was in effect from Rio San Fernando, Mexico, north to Port O'Connor, Texas.

Hours after Hermine made landfall, Coast Guard Ensign Scott Kimball said a fishing vessel had run aground at a jetty near South Padre Island. He did not have any more immediate details.

Neighbourhoods lost power while Hermine's centre moved over Brownsville, said Joseph Tomaselli, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Parts of the Rio Grande Valley still drying out from Alex braced for as much as 20cm of more rain.

"It doesn't take a lot of rainfall to cause any flooding down there whatsoever," Tomaselli said.

Hermine was expected to dump 10 to 20cm of rain while moving north through Texas and weakening into a tropical depression.

Far north

Tomaselli said remnants of Hermine will be felt as far north as Oklahoma and Kansas in the coming days.

In Mexico, Hermine brought another unwelcome downpour after remnant rains from Alex killed at least 12 people in flooding.

Mexico's north east cattle-ranching region is one of the most dangerous hotspots in the country's bloody turf war between two drug cartels.

 It is the same area where 72 migrants were killed two weeks ago in what it believed to be the country's worst drug gang massacre to date.

Mexican emergency officials urged those living in low-lying coastal areas to move to shelters.

Classes in Matamoros and several other Mexican towns were cancelled, and authorities began releasing water from some dams to make room for expected rains.

"We urge the general population to be on alert for possible floods and mudslides," said Salvador Trevino, director of civil defence for Tamaulipas, where Matamoros is located.

Landslide

In inland Hidalgo state, authorities said heavy rains caused by the passing storm unleashed landslides that damaged 20 homes, left 120 people homeless and cut off small communities.

Unlike Alex, Hermine's approach to Texas brought far less anxiety.

No evacuations had been ordered as of early Tuesday, and shelters throughout the flood-prone Rio Grande Valley were on standby but were still keeping their doors shut.

On South Padre Island, Hermine came too late to ruin another long weekend on the tourist hotspot.

Alex plummeted Independence day hotel occupancies to about one-third of what the island normally sees, but most Labour Day weekend vacationers were already packing up for home by the time Hermine came into the picture.

"It really crept up on us," said Dan Quandt, executive director of the South Padre Island Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Tornado watches were in effect for 16 Texas counties early on Tuesday.

- AP