Hurrican Alex pounds Mexico, Texas (2nd Lead)

Jul 1, 2010, 14:18 GMT

Washington - The season's first hurricane, Alex, pounded north-eastern Mexico and southern Texas early Thursday with winds of up to 170 kilometres per hour, killing at least one person.

While broadcaster CNN reported the one casualty, there were unconfirmed reports of at least four dead in Mexico as the storm struck, sending metre-high waves crashing onto coastal areas and bringing torrential rains.

In the one reported fatality, a construction worker in the Mexican city of Monterrey died when a wall fell on him as a result of the rainfall.

A further three people were killed when a wall collapsed in the town of Pie de la Cuesta near Acapulco, other reports said.

More than 7,000 people living close to the Mexican coast were evacuated to safety further inland. In the north-eastern state of Tamaulipas, electricity was cut off by the storm and thousands were evacuated to safety. Schools were shut down.

In Texas, about 1,000 people had to seek shelter from the storm. The city of Brownsville reported about 40 streets were flooded.

President Barack Obama in a precautionary moved Wednesday had already declared an emergency for Texas to assure that any necessary assistance would be quickly available.

The season's first hurricane was a category 2 storm with sustained winds of 155 kilometres an hour when it reached land south of the Rio Grande river that marks the border between the US and Mexico.

US weather officials early Thursday downgraded Alex to a tropical storm and said it would weaken and ultimately dissipate completely within the next two or three days.

Alex made landfall some 65 kilometres north-north-east of La Pesca, Mexico and 180 kilometres south of Brownsville, Texas, the US National Hurricane Centre said.

The hurricane season is expected to be worse than normal this year, provoking special concern along the Louisiana-to-Florida coast that is fighting a 10-week-old BP oil gusher.

Even though Alex was not expected to directly hit the oil spill region, BP plc's burning and skimming operations have already been suspended due to rough seas. Siphoning and relief-well drilling however have not been stopped.

It is the first time since 1995 that the first Atlantic hurricane rolled through so early, in June.

The coastal storm surge was expected to lift water levels by 1 to 2 metres and penetrate several kilometres inland, the US hurricane centre said.