Alex Slams South Texas with Flooding Rain, Wind, Tornadoes

While a weakening Alex will continue to unleash flooding rain today, thestorm has already caused damage in northeastern Mexico and South Texas.Alex made landfall at 9 p.m. CDT on Wednesday along the northeastern coastof Mexico in the municipality of Soto la Marina. The landfall site is located110 miles south of Brownsville, Texas.

An image in Monterrey, Mexico as remnants of Hurricane Alex continue tomove through the city on Thursday, July 1. The Santa Catarina River isoverflowing, inciting flash flooding throughout Monterrey. (Photo byAccuWeather.com Facebook Fan Arturo Salinas)The AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center has information on Alex's current location, strength andexpected track.

Mexican emergency officials told CNN that Alex has been blamed on the deathof at least one person. A contractor was killed in Monterrey, Mexico, onWednesday when rain caused a wall to collapse on him. AccuWeather.com FacebookFan Arturo Salinas reported on Thursday that the Santa Catarina River inMonterrey is showing dramatic increases in water levels.

Have a question about Alex orhurricanes in general? Ask our expert meteorologists on Facebook.Prior to landfall, bands of heavy rain and gusty winds spread across SouthTexas on Wednesday. The winds frequently gusted to tropical storm force,especially in the afternoon and overnight hours.

The strongest wind gust in South Texas (not including in isolated tornadoes)was measured on the Queen Isabella Memorial Causeway, which connects SouthPadre Island to the Texas Mainland. Winds peaked at 66 mph on Wednesdayevening.

The howling winds forced officials to close the causeway as early as 1:30p.m. CDT.

The following are other peak wind gusts across South Texas:--South Padre Island: 56 mph--Port Isabel: 53 mph--Corpus Christi: 52 mph--Brownsville: 48 mphThe gusty winds resulted in widespread power outages in Brownsville. Powerlines brought down by the winds in Port Isabel began smoking after landing inflood waters.

Flooding also ensued across South Texas and northeastern Mexico due toAlex's storm surge and torrential rainfall.

Streets became flooded in Brownsville, Texas, on Wednesday afternoon. Theflood waters began entering the city's children's museum at 3 p.m.

Brownsville's airport has picked up 6.80 inches in 36 hours, ending at 8a.m. EDT. The 5.86 inches of rain that fell alone on Wednesday broke the dailyrainfall record of 3.80 inches from 1995.

McAllen, Texas, measured 6.66 inches on Wednesday, shattering the day'sprevious rainfall record of 0.85 of an inch from 2007. Wednesday is now alsothe city's wettest June day on record. As of 8 a.m. EDT, McAllen has received7.60 inches in 36 hours.

Other rainfall amounts produced by Alex are given below. The following are36-hour totals, ending at 5 a.m. CDT Thursday:--Weslaco: 5.76 inches--Del Rio: 5.17 inches--Port Isabel: 4.72 inches--Corpus Christi: 4.16 inchesMore recent rainfall totals as of 8 a.m., EDT in Mexico and Texas onThursday:--Monterrey: 9.00 inches--Soto La Marina: 7.60 inches--Monclova: 2.40 inches--McAllen: 7.60 inches--Brownsville: 6.80 inches--Weslaco: 5.80 inchesAdditional rainfall today into Friday threatens to triggermore flooding problems across South Texas.