Tropical Storm Hermine Slams Into Texas

(Sept. 7) -- Sweeping north from Mexico, Tropical Storm Hermine lashed south Texas with heavy rains today before weakening to a tropical depression. The Rio Grande Valley escaped fairly lightly as the system plowed northward.

The storm made landfall in Mexico at 65 mph, but winds dropped to 45 mph as it moved into Texas. Winds decreased to near 35 mph and Hermine dropped down to a tropical depression, the National Hurricane Center said in its 8 p.m. EDT advisory.

Rainfall accumulations of 4 to 6 inches were expected in many areas of south and east Texas, though some isolated spots could receive as much as 10 inches, the center said.

The rains were expected to spread northeastward across southeastern Kansas and Missouri during the next few days. Heavy rainfall could cause flash floods, the center warned.

"It doesn't take a lot of rainfall to cause any flooding down there whatsoever," National Weather Service meteorologist Joseph Tomaselli told The Associated Press, speaking about dried-out parts of the Rio Grande Valley.

More than 3 inches of rain fell at Santa Rosa and Port Isabel, the Brownsville Herald said. The rain caused slick roads in San Antonio, where nearly 40 traffic accidents were reported during the morning rush hour, most of them minor, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

About 50,000 people lost power in Texas, but most had it back by this afternoon.

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Hermine stirred up rough seas along Galveston-area beaches, and a woman drowned late Monday when a rip current pulled her out into deep waters off Jamaica Beach, the Houston Chronicle reported.

No mandatory evacuations were ordered. On South Padre Island, authorities issued a voluntary evacuation for recreational vehicles, and a long line of vehicles could be seen crowding a highway away from the area. Workers along the tourist strip prepared for gale-force winds.

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"We've already moved the trash barrels off the beach," island spokesman Dan Quandt told the Express-News before the storm hit.

A few houses and businesses in the Rio Grande Valley have their windows still boarded up from Hurricane Alex, a Category 1 storm that hit the area at the end of June. At least 12 people died in Mexico from flooding during that storm.

Across the border from Brownsville, Mexican authorities evacuated 3,500 people in Matamoros. But the hurricane center said all tropical storm warnings have been dropped there as the storm moves farther into the U.S.