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Trop. Storm Hermine Crosses into Texas 09/07 05:23
Tropical Storm Hermine rolled into south Texas early Tuesday, bringing heavy
rains and strong winds to an area battered by Hurricane Alex earlier this
summer.
McALLEN, Texas (AP) -- Tropical Storm Hermine rolled into south Texas early
Tuesday, bringing heavy rains and strong winds to an area battered by Hurricane
Alex earlier this summer.
Hermine made landfall in northeastern Mexico late Monday and crossed into
Texas within hours, bringing with it winds of up to 65 mph (100 kph). It moved
on a path similar to the one Hurricane Alex took in late June, and like that
Category 1 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 canceled classes Tuesday.
By early Tuesday, the center of the storm had crossed the Rio Grande River.
The National Hurricane Center said the storm was about 15 miles (25 kilometers)
south-southeast of Falfurrias, Texas, and 65 miles (105 kilometers) southwest
of Corpus Christi. It was moving north-northwest near 17 mph (28 kph).
A tropical storm warning was in effect from the mouth of the Rio Grande
north to Port O'Connor, Texas. Tropical storm warnings that had been issued for
Mexico were canceled early Tuesday.
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.
Neighborhoods lost power while Hermine's center 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 eight
inches 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 4 to 8 inches of rain while moving north
through Texas and weakening into a tropical depression. It's possible a few
areas could see up to a foot of rain. 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 northeast 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
canceled, 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 defense for Tamaulipas,
where Matamoros is located.
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 Fourth of July hotel occupancies to about
one-third of what the island normally sees, but most Labor 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 Tuesday.
(KA)
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