Tropical Storm Alberto barreled toward northeastern Mexico early Thursday as the first named storm of the season, bringing heavy rain that killed at least three people but also brought hope to a region suffering from prolonged, severe drought.
According to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, the storm is expected to reach Mexico’s Gulf Coast Thursday morning, then quickly weaken over land and dissipate later in the day.
Rain from Alberto fell on both sides of the border, extending across much of the South Texas coast and south into the Mexican state of Veracruz.
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The hurricane center said as much as 6 to 10 inches of rain was expected in some areas along the Texas coast, with even higher isolated totals possible. Visibility could be as high as 50 centimeters in some higher elevations in Mexico, which could result in mudslides and flash flooding, especially in the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila and Nuevo Leon.
Mexican authorities downplayed Alberto’s risk and instead pinned their hopes on his ability to alleviate the parched region’s water needs.
“The (wind) speeds are not such that we consider it a risk,” Raúl Quiroga Álvarez, Tamaulipas Undersecretary of Hydrological Resources, said at a news conference late Wednesday. Instead, he suggested that people greet Alberto happily. “This is what we have been hoping for throughout Tamaulipas for eight years.”
Much of Mexico is suffering from severe drought, with northern Mexico being particularly hard hit. Quiroga noted that the state’s reservoirs were low and that Mexico owed the United States a huge water debt due to their shared use of the Rio Grande.
“This is a win-win event for Tamaulipas,” he said.
But in nearby Nuevo Leon state, civil protection authorities reported three deaths from Alberto’s rain. They said one man died in the La Silla River in the city of Monterrey, the state capital, and two minors died of electric shock in the municipality of Allende. Local media reported that the minors were cycling in the rain.
Nuevo Leon Governor Samuel García wrote on his account on social media platform
People in Mexico expressed hope that Alberto would bring rain.
Tampico resident Blanca Coronel Moral ventured to the city’s waterfront on Wednesday to await Alberto’s arrival.
‘We’ve needed the water we’re getting now, thank God. Let’s hope we only get water,” said Coronel Moral. “Our lagoon, which gives us drinking water, is completely dry.”
Authorities in Tamaulipas closed schools for the rest of the week as localized flooding was possible.
