(20 Jun 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tampico, Mexico – 20 June 2024
1. Various of waves crashing, choppy seas
2. Various of storefront with sandbags to protect against flooding
3. People walking on a pedestrian street
4. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Martha Alicia Hernández, Tampico Resident:
"What can I say? We had hoped that it would come because water is so needed here, but as far as I can tell, it went somewhere else."
5. Various of people walking, waiting for bus after the rain
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tampico, Mexico – 19 June 2024
6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Raúl Quiroga Álvarez, Tamaulipas State Secretary of Hydrological Resources:
"It minimizes the problem of violent gusts of wind. So the fundamental contribution here is precipitation, and this is what we’ve been waiting for eight years in all of Tamaulipas, not just in this region."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tampico, Mexico – 20 June 2024
7. Various of people walking about after the rain
8. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Octavio González, Tampico Resident:
"Well, we hope it rains a lot. That it rains a lot. Very little water came down, we are here on this south side of Tamaulipas with a lot of drought. And the truth is we have a lot of hope for water."
9. Various of people walking about after the rain
STORYLINE:
Tropical Storm Alberto, the season’s first named storm, weakened Thursday as it moved inland over northeast Mexico after bringing heavy rains to parts of the parched region and leaving at least three dead.
The storm was weakening rapidly over land and was downgraded to a tropical depression by the U.S. National Hurricane Center with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (55 kmh).
Coastal storm watches and warnings in Mexico were lifted as Alberto moved west at 18 mph (30 kmh).
But forecasters said heavy rain amounting to several inches was still expected inland in Mexico’s Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon and Coahuila states.
South Texas was forecast to see diminishing rain Thursday.
Immediately after it moved ashore in Tampico, people were initially disappointed at the meager rain that fell.
Showers had been sporadic through the early morning with the sun even breaking through at times.
"We had hoped that it would come because water is so needed here, but as far as I can tell, it went somewhere else,” said Tampico resident Marta Alicia Hernández.
The rain that Tampico had hoped for may still be coming from some of the large system’s outer bands.
There was heavy rain reported inland in the neighboring state of Nuevo Leon.
There, civil protection authorities reported three deaths linked to Alberto’s rains.
Schools were closed across Tamaulipas state where Alberto came ashore and would be through Friday.
Shelters were prepared across the state to receive residents trying to escape high water.
Mexican authorities had downplayed the risk posed by Alberto and instead pinned their hopes on its ability to ease the parched region’s water needs.
"The fundamental contribution here is precipitation,” said Tamaulipas state Secretary of Hydrological Resources Raúl Quiroga Álvarez during a news conference late Wednesday.
Instead, he suggested people greet Alberto happily. "This is what we’ve been waiting for eight years in all of Tamaulipas.”
Tampico resident Octavio González was visibly disappointed in the little rain from Alberto.
"Very little water fell,” he said. "We’re on this south side of Tamaulipas with a lot of drought. And the truth is we have a lot of hope for water.”
AP video by Alfredo Peña
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