MIAMI, June 29, 2011 (AFP) - Arlene, the first named storm of the Atlantic season, intensified Wednesday in the Gulf of Mexico could reach hurricane strength before swirling ashore on the Mexican coast, forecasters said.
Hurricane watches were added to Mexico's coastal warnings already in place as Tropical Storm Arlene bore down on Tamaulipas and Veracruz states, a region still recovering from the worst floods on record last year. The storm was packing sustained winds of 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour and heavy rains, and the Miami-based National Hurricane Center forecast it could near hurricane strength before making landfall early Thursday. At 10:00 am (1500 GMT) Arlene was some 110 miles (177 kilometers) east of the town of Tuxpan and churning westward at eight miles (13 kilometers) per hour, the NHC said. The storm was forecast to dump between four and eight inches (10-20 centimeters) of rain over Tamaulipas and Veracruz, with isolated maximum amounts of 15 inches (38 centimeters) over mountainous terrain. "These rains could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides," the NHC warned in a bulletin, adding that the coastline could be battered by "large and destructive waves." The northeast coast from Barra de Nautla northward to Bahia Algones was under a storm warning, while the area between Tuxpan and and La Cruz was under a hurricane watch. Tropical storm conditions were expected to hit the coast beginning later Wednesday.
Mexico was lashed last year by what the government described as the wettest rainy season on record. Several tropical storms and hurricanes caused flooding and mudslides that left dozens of people dead and hundreds of thousands homeless.
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