AccuWeather.com

By Kirstie Hettinga, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer

Jul 2, 2010; 3:24 PM ET

Share |

As Alex pushed westward this past week through Mexico, Nuevo Leon's capital, Monterrey, was its greatest victim, leaving chaos and destruction in its wake, according to La Vanguardia newspaper.

Hundreds of drivers were still trapped on roads in Saltillo, Coahuila to the west of Monterrey as of Thursday.

La Vanguardia reports that the most significant damage can be seen in Mexico's infrastructure, where electricity, phone lines and transportation have collapsed. About 190,000 in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas were without electricity when the paper went to print Thursday night.

Safe drinking water remains a concern at this time.

A man sits in what remained of a home after Hurricane Alex hit the area in what is known as Playa Bagdad, about 22 miles (37 km) east of Matamoros, northeastern Mexico, on the border with Texas, July 1, 2010. Hurricane Alex ripped off roofs, caused severe flooding and forced thousands of people to flee coastal fishing villages. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

In Coahuila, Alex brought down trees and electrical posts. At least 50 percent of the businesses in Monterrey have ceased operations at this time.

For the first time in 22 years the Santa Catarina river overflowed its banks. Governor Rodrigo Medina de la Cruz said thousands were evacuated. Medina de la Cruz declared a state of emergency in several municipalities. The military also put a disaster plan in action.

Some news organizations are comparing the impact of Alex to 1988's Hurricane Gilbert, which killed more than 340 people.

AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Robert Miller said Monterrey will continue to experience some showers and thunderstorms this weekend. Conditions in the region are stabilizing, he said, but rain in the mountains could continue to wash into the already devastated city.

Moving into next week, Miller said the region will turn very hot and humid with temperatures climbing to 100 degrees. Average temperatures for this time of year are typically around 90 degrees. Showers will continue into early next week.

As of Friday morning the majority of news agencies were reporting two people killed by floods in Nuevo Leon on Thursday. The total death toll from Alex ranged from five to as many as 28, according to one report, with at least five dead in Monterrey.

Through Facebook, AccuWeather.com friend Arturo Salinas reported that all the rivers and creeks in Monterrey had crested.

In a Facebook post, Salinas wrote "Monterrey is beyond recognition. Avenues and lanes of Highways have dissapeared (sic) as same as bridges. Houses are been swallowed by unimaginable streams that flow through streets. People sought refuge at the ceiling of their houses due to the rise of water levels."

Conagua, a federal commission on water in Mexico, stated that Alex dropped more than 616 millimeters (24 inches) in less than 3 days. Gilbert saturated the region with a mere 280 millimeters (11 inches) in the same amount of time. Salinas said isolated regions were reporting as much as 850 millimeters of rain (34 inches) from Alex.

In efforts to protect the public from overflow, Conagua reportedly opened floodgates in La Boca and Cerro Prieto, Nuevo Leon.

Alex made landfall as a Category 2 storm Wednesday evening with winds of 105 mph.

Alex is now a tropical rainstorm and some of its moisture will continue to seep northward into Texas and New Mexico, eventually spreading through the southern and central Plains and perhaps into part of the Great Lakes states.

Broadcaster Violeta Yas contributed to this report.