Carole Erskine, Sky News Online
Hundreds of people have been forced into shelters as Hurricane Alex causes floods to inshore Mexican towns
The Category 2 hurricane has hampered efforts to control the massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, off the Louisiana coast.
Rain from the first named storm of the 2010 Atlantic season has swamped beaches and streets while residents in the Tamaulipas state have been taken into shelters.
"We need food, we need water, we are getting desperate," said cleaner Rocio Guerra with her three young children in a crowded, muddy shelter with overflowing toilets in Matamoros.
Alex made landfall on the Tamaulipas coast around 3am, the US National Hurricane Centre said
"Its rains had already flooded highways as far inland as the industrial city of Monterrey and the centre warned of isolated tornadoes in south Texas."
One man died in Monterrey on Wednesday when his house collapsed in the heavy rains, rescue authorities said.
Families boarded up homes and Texan authorities urged people to leave beach towns as strong winds tipped over trailers and bands of intense rain pounded the area.
Alex has forced oil and gas companies to cut back production, but the hurricane path is southwest of major US offshore facilities.
Russia Today
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