A driveway leading to a home seen is covered in floodwater on June 19, 2024 in Surfside Beach, Texas. Storm Alberto, the first named tropical storm of the hurricane season, was located approximately 305 miles south-southeast of Brownsville, Texas and formed earlier today in the Southwestern Gulf of Mexico.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images
The first named storm of the hurricane season made landfall in Mexico on Thursday, bringing heavy rain and flooding to the country’s Gulf Coast and to Texas.
Alberto, which weakened from a tropical storm to a depression, is moving inland over Mexico with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in an update at 10 a.m. local time.
Heavy rains and gusty winds were starting to subside for the Texas coast, but moderate coastal flooding was likely through the morning, the National Hurricane Center said in a public advisory. Life-threatening flooding and mudslides were likely in some areas of northeastern Mexico, it said.
A tropical storm warning that was in effect for the Texas coast from San Luis Pass southward to the mouth of the Rio Grande was lifted early Thursday. A warning remained in effect for the northeastern coast of Mexico south of the mouth of the Rio Grande to Tecolutla, it said.
Already on Wednesday, parts of Texas experienced at least moderate flooding with streets transformed into waterways.
Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday issued a disaster declaration for 51 Texas counties as the storm advanced, “to ensure Texans and at-risk regions have the resources and personnel needed to respond to this storm,” he said in a statement.
The Texas A&M Forest Service mobilized at least four teams comprising 100 personnel and 24 vehicles, while the Texas National Guard had three platoons with a total of more than 40 personnel, along with 20 vehicles, including Chinook helicopters, at the ready.
The National Weather Service advised residents in areas expected to be affected by the storm to have at least five to seven days’ worth of food, water and other essential supplies on hand.
In Surfside Beach in Brazoria County, cars could be seen driving down flooded roads.
The storm comes amid a heat wave expected to last through at least Friday, with more than 82 million people under some form of a heat advisory Wednesday.
Alberto’s center was forecast to move west into Mexico before weakening and most likely dissipating by Thursday night, the National Hurricane Center said. Some parts of Mexico, including Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas, were expected to get maximum totals of 20 inches of rain, it said.
But already, the system appeared to be potentially linked to deaths in Mexico, with civil protection authorities in the northern state of Nuevo León saying one man died in the La Silla river in the state’s capital, Monterrey. They said two minors also died from electric shocks in the municipality of Allende.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted that the hurricane season that began June 1 and runs through Nov. 30 is likely to be well above average, with as many as 17 to 25 named storms.
Its forecast also calls for as many as 13 hurricanes and four major hurricanes.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.