Tropical Storm Alberto blamed for several deaths as it moves in on Mexico’s Gulf Coast

Tropical Storm Alberto was near northeast Mexico early Thursday carrying heavy rains that left at least three people dead but also brought hope to a region suffering under a prolonged, severe drought. It is the first named storm of the season.

Alberto is expected to get to Mexico’s Gulf coast shortly, then rapidly weaken over land and dissipate later in the day or Thursday night, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Rain from Alberto was falling on both sides of the border, extending up much of the south Texas coast and south to Mexico’s Veracruz state. Rainfall and gusty winds were starting to subside for the Texas coast but were forecast to continue through the morning in northeastern Mexico, the hurricane center said.

As of 5 a.m. EDT, the center of Alberto was approximately 40 miles east of Tampico, Mexico, and 250 miles south of Brownsville, Texas, and was moving west at 50 mph, with sustained maximum winds of 50 mph.

Rainfall from Alberto should start to diminish across southern Texas during the day, with an inch or less expected, the center said, though there could be “a tornado or two across parts of Deep South Texas.”

Heavy rain is expected to continue in northeast Mexico through the morning, with 5 to 10 inches more anticipated. Maximum totals of about 20 inches are possible across the higher terrain of the Mexican states of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas.

That “will likely produce considerable flash and urban flooding along with new and renewed river flooding. Mudslides are also possible in areas of higher terrain across northeast Mexico,” the center added.

Mexican authorities downplayed the risk posed by Alberto and instead pinned their hopes on its ability to ease the parched region’s water needs.

“The (wind) speeds are not such as to consider it a risk,” said Tamaulipas state Secretary of Hydrological Resources Raúl Quiroga Álvarez during a news conference late Wednesday. Instead, he suggested people greet Alberto happily. “This is what we’ve been (hoping) for for eight years in all of Tamaulipas.”

Much of Mexico has been suffering under severe drought conditions, with northern Mexico especially hard hit. Quiroga noted that the state’s reservoirs were low and Mexico owed the United States a massive water debt in 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 linked to Alberto’s rains. They said one man died in the La Silla River in the city of Monterrey, the state capital, and that two minors died from electric shocks in the municipality of Allende. Local media reported that the minors were riding a bicycle in the rain.

Nuevo Leon Gov. Samuel García wrote on his account on social media platform X that metro and public transportation services would be suspended in Monterrey from Wednesday night until midday Thursday when Alberto has passes.

People in Mexico expressed hope for Alberto bringing rain.

Blanca Coronel Moral, a resident of Tampico, ventured out to the city’s waterfront Wednesday to await Alberto’s arrival.

“We have been needing this water that we’re now getting, thank God. Let’s hope that we only get water,” said Coronel Moral. “Our lagoon, which gives us drinking water, is completely dry.”

Authorities closed schools for the remainder of the week in Tamaulipas since there could be localized flooding.