More than two million people were under a tropical storm warning along the Texas Gulf Coast in the early hours of Thursday as Tropical Storm Alberto, the first named storm of the hurricane season in the Atlantic, was approaching the coast of Mexico, bringing intense rain and storm surges.
The large storm system caused widespread coastal flooding in South Texas on Wednesday, well before the storm made landfall. Mexican authorities said they were cleaning drainage points to prevent flooding and monitoring the levels of dams, rivers and streams.
In Texas, tides rose beneath raised homes in some coastal towns, including Surfside Beach, about 40 miles south of Galveston, starting Wednesday morning. The city closed its beach earlier this week and warned visitors to stay away as the flooding worsened.
The National Hurricane Center warned that Alberto was a large storm, with tropical force winds extending about 415 miles north of its center into the Gulf of Mexico as it moved west to the northeast of Mexico. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 50 miles per hour Wednesday evening, but the main concern was rainfall of a foot or more predicted for parts of Texas and Mexico.
Forecasters predicted Alberto could make landfall early Thursday near the Mexican town of Tampico, but its effects were expected to extend well beyond. As of Wednesday evening, a 700-mile stretch of coastline from the San Luis Pass near Galveston to Tecolutla in Veracruz, Mexico, was under a tropical storm warning, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Mayor Gregg Bisso of Surfside Beach said that although the flooding was slowly subsiding Wednesday evening, the city was preparing for things to intensify at any time, as it did when Hurricane Nicholas hit the city in 2021, causing significant damage.
“It’s kind of a wait and see,” Mr. Bisso said, adding that all the city’s police and emergency services were on duty.
Here are the key things to know about the storm
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Alberto is expected to make landfall on Mexico’s northeast coast early Thursday, but wind and rain extend far from the storm’s center.
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Heavy rain will continue across much of southern Texas and northeastern Mexico. Five to ten inches of rain are likely, with the possibility of isolated amounts near 20 inches.
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Up to three inches of rain is expected to fall per hour, which could overwhelm rivers and creeks. Storm surges of up to four feet are expected in coastal areas, including Sargent, Texas and Galveston Bay.
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Mudslides are also a concern in the hills of Mexico.
Preparations were underway in Mexico
On Wednesday, authorities and residents were bracing for heavy rain and strong winds.
Officials were setting up temporary shelters and more than 1,500 electricians were deployed to Tamaulipas, Veracruz and Nuevo León – the three states expected to bear the brunt of Alberto’s force when it makes landfall – to respond to any power outages .
Yet for some states in Mexico, the storm’s arrival was a welcome respite from a water crisis and scorching heatwaves.
“We are waiting for these rains, which are going to be very beneficial,” Luis Gerardo González, civil protection coordinator for the state of Tamaulipas, said in a radio interview on Wednesday.
A disaster declaration has been issued in Texas
Ahead of the storm, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas activated a range of emergency management resources, including high-water boats and helicopters with lifting capabilities. Wednesday afternoon, he announced a climate disaster declaration for 51 counties.
Property damage was reported on North Padre Island on Wednesday after coastal bulkheads collapsed following the storm surge. And on South Padre Island, officials were handing out free sandbags to businesses and residents. In Corpus Christi, at least two people were rescued and taken to higher ground after their cars were submerged in floodwaters, authorities said.
Hurricanes and tropical storms can produce tornadoes, often as bands of rain away from their center. As Alberto approached, the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning Wednesday evening for an area of Texas along the U.S.-Mexico border that included the cities of McAllen, Mission and Pharr. Tornado warnings issued earlier for counties near Corpus Christi have been extended. A tornado watch was in effect until 7 a.m. local time for much of Texas south of San Antonio, a region that is home to about 2.5 million residents.
In Houston, just recovering from an unexpectedly deadly storm last month, officials were bracing for major flooding this week.
This hurricane season is expected to be busy
Forecasters have warned that the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season could be much more active than usual.
At the end of May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts 17 to 25 named storms this year, an “above normal” figure and a forecast consistent with more than a dozen forecasts earlier in the year from experts at universities, private companies and government agencies. Hurricane seasons produce an average of 14 named storms.
Victoria Kim And Michael Corkery reports contributed.
