Tropical storm Alex kills one in southern Mexico

09:31, June 30, 2010

Palm trees move in the wind as a man walks on the shore in Chetumal June 26, 2010. Tropical Storm Alex was close to making landfall in nearby Belize on Saturday as it dumped rain on Guatemala and Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. A tropical storm warning was in effect for the coast of Belize and the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula from Chetumal to Cancun. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Tropical storm Alex, which is set to become a hurricane later on Tuesday, killed one people in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, a local official said on Tuesday.

Alex, which has already killed nine people in Central America, triggered torrential rains in southern Mexico overnight, which flooded Oaxaca City, capital of the state.

The flooding caused the collapse of the home of Reyna Ramos Vazquez, 23, crushing her to death as she was sleeping, said Carlos Alberto Ramos Aragon, director of the state's Civil Protection Department.

Earlier on Tuesday, the head of civil protection in neighboring Tabasco state, said the Teapa River burst its banks after torrential rain on Monday and Tuesday, flooding 500 homes in a small town and destroying substantial areas of crops.

Tabasco's capital, Villahermosa, which has 500,000 residents, is at risk from rising rivers, said Gilberto Segovia, an official with the National Water Commission, the Environment Ministry unit which has the task of monitoring hurricanes.

Alex will cause very intense electrical storms in six Mexican states on Tuesday, according to the state-run National Meteorology Service.

Tabasco is one of Mexico's most vulnerable states. It suffered flooding that displaced 250,000 people last year, its third such flood in as many years. The worst flooding in the state left 1.2 million people homeless in 2007.

Alex killed two people in Guatemala and El Salvador respectively during its weekend passage over the central American nations. Salvadorian authorities evacuated 535 citizens from affected areas at the weekend. Five died in Nicaragua.

Source: Xinhua

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