The tropical storm Albertothe first named storm of the season, weakened Thursday as it moved inland into northeastern Mexico, after bringing heavy rain to parts of the parched region and killing at least three people. .
The storm rapidly weakened over land and was downgraded to a tropical depression by the United States National Hurricane Center, with maximum sustained winds of 55 kilometers per hour. Coastal storm watches and warnings have been lifted in Mexico asAlberto was moving westward at a speed of 30 kilometers per hour.
But forecasters said heavy rains of several centimeters of water were still expected inland in the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon and Coahuila. South Texas is expected to see a decrease in precipitation on Thursday.
Immediately after arriving on shore at Tampico, residents were disappointed by the small amount of rain that fell. The showers were sporadic until early in the morning and the sun even peeked through at times.
“We were hoping the rain would come because we need water here, but as far as I know it has gone elsewhere,” said Tampico resident Marta Alicia Hernández.
The rain Ms. Tampico was hoping for may still come from some outer bands of the system. Heavy rains were reported inland in the neighboring state of Nuevo Leon.
In this location, civil protection authorities reported three deaths linked to the rains ofAlberto. They said a man died in the La Silla River in the city of Monterrey, the state capital, and two miners died of electric shocks in the municipality of Allende. Local media reported that the miners were cycling in the rain.
The governor of Nuevo Leon, Samuel García, indicated on his account of the social media platformAlberto will have passed.
Alberto also caused rain and flooding on the Texas coast.
The U.S. National Weather Service said the main risk for the South Texas coast was flooding from excessive rain.
According to the National Hurricane Center, precipitation in the range of 13 to 25 centimeters is expected in certain areas of the Texas coast, with isolated accumulations even greater. Some higher places in Mexico could receive up to 50 centimeters of rain, which could lead to mudslides and flash flooding, particularly in the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila and Nuevo Leon.