飓风亚历克斯使墨西哥东北部遭遇洪灾

Hurricane Alex has brought torrential rain as it weakened to a tropical storm over northeastern Mexico, flooding the city of Monterrey.

飓风亚历克斯抵达墨西哥东北部地区时减弱成热带风暴，带来大量降雨，使蒙特雷遭遇洪灾。

The Santa Catalina river raged through Monterrey

At least two people were killed when a river burst its banks, inundating²（淹没，泛滥） roads and washing away（冲走） cars.

Alex was a category two hurricane when it hit the Gulf³ coast on Wednesday night, but lost force as it moved inland.

It was expected to dissipate（驱散） over the Mexican highlands on Friday.

The usually dry Santa Catarina river that runs through the centre of Monterrey turned into a raging torrent¹（奔流，急流） , flooding major highways and paralysing（使……瘫痪） Mexico's third-biggest city.

One man died after he was swept nearly 500 metres by the waters and trapped against a fence. The body of another drowned man was found in a creek⁴（小溪，小湾） .

Virgin⁵ toppled

A 12-tonne statue of the revered⁶（敬畏，崇敬） Virgin of Guadalupe was knocked off its plinth（底座） on the river bank.

Flood waters also hit the city zoo, sweeping⁷ animals including buffalo⁸ from their pens, the Reuters news agency reported.

Alex was the first hurricane of the 2010 Atlantic season, and the first to appear in June since 1995.

It caused severe flooding along Mexico's Gulf coast when it made landfall on Wednesday night.

Emergency workers in the port city of Matamoros have been using boats to assess the damage in some neighbourhoods.

"The city is practically under water" the director of civil defence, Saul Hernandez, told the AP news agency.

"But the most important thing is there was no loss of life. We took opportune⁹（适当的） measures to evacuate¹⁰ people"

Thousands of people in coastal¹¹ villages were moved to higher ground before the storm hit.

Many towns were left without electricity, and phone lines were also down.

Heavy seas caused by the storm also disrupted BP's oil spill clean-up in the Gulf of Mexico.

Alex largely spared the US state of Texas, which had prepared for a possible direct hit.

It brought heavy rain and caused at least two tornadoes¹²（龙卷风） , but there were no reports of injuries or major damage.

However, there are still warnings of possible flash-flooding in some areas of the state.