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Hermine hits Texas coast

Posted: Sep 7, 2010 1:50 PM by CBS News
Updated: Sep 8, 2010 12:04 PM

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Tropical Storm Hermine continued to drift northward across Texas, drenching the state with heavy rains after rolling in from Mexico late Monday.

Hermine made landfall in northeastern Mexico late Monday and crossed into Texas within hours, with swirling winds up to 65 mph. It threatened to dump up to 10 inches of rain in some areas and cause flash flooding.

At 2:00 p.m. ET the storm was centered about 15 miles south-southeast of San Antonio, moving at 20 mph.

Although tropical storm and coastal warnings have been suspended, the National Hurricane Center said Hermine is still a tropical storm, with sustained winds near 40 mph. Isolated tornadoes are possible over portions of central and southeast Texas today.

It is expected to be downgraded to a tropical depression later today.

CBS News correspondent Don Teague reports that Hermine surprised many Texans by sneaking across the border as a near-hurricane strength storm just 40 miles south of Brownsville.

Teague says the storm is expected to continue dumping potentially damaging amounts of rain as it plods north toward Oklahoma.

Mexican emergency officials in Tamaulipas worked to evacuate 3,500 people around Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, Texas, and schools on both sides of the border canceled classes Tuesday.

Hours after Hermine made landfall, Coast Guard Ensign Scott Kimball said a fishing vessel had run aground at a jetty near South Padre Island.

Neighborhoods lost power while Hermine's center moved over Brownsville, said Joseph Tomaselli, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Parts of the Rio Grande Valley still drying out from Hurricane Alex braced for as much as eight inches of more rain.

"It doesn't take a lot of rainfall to cause any flooding down there whatsoever," Tomaselli said.

Hermine was expected to dump 4 to 8 inches of rain while moving north through Texas and weakening into a tropical depression. It's possible a few areas could see up to 10 inches of rain. Tomaselli said remnants of Hermine will be felt as far north as Oklahoma and Kansas in the coming days.

In Mexico, Hermine brought another unwelcome downpour after remnant rains from Alex killed at least 12 people in flooding.

Mexico's northeast cattle-ranching region is one of the most dangerous hotspots in the country's bloody turf war between two drug cartels. It is the same area where 72 migrants were killed two weeks ago in what it believed to be the country's worst drug gang massacre to date.

Mexican emergency officials urged those living in low-lying coastal areas to move to shelters. Classes in Matamoros and several other Mexican towns were canceled, and authorities began releasing water from some dams to make room for expected rains.

"We urge the general population to be on alert for possible floods and mudslides," said Salvador Trevino, director of civil defense for Tamaulipas, where Matamoros is located.

In inland Hidalgo state, authorities said heavy rains caused by the passing storm unleashed landslides that damaged 20 homes, left 120 people homeless and cut off small communities.

Hermine's approach to Texas brought far less anxiety. No evacuations had been ordered as of early Tuesday.

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