Hurricane Alex makes landfall

The rough, swollen Santa Catarina river tears through Monterrey, northern Mexico, in flood after Hurricane Alex
Photograph: Obed Campos Guzman/EPA

An elderly woman cries at a shelter in Matamoros, Tamaulipas state, Mexico. Hurricane Alex was set to make landfall south of the US border with Mexico, possibly as a category 2 hurricane
Photograph: Luis Acosta/AFP/Getty Images

Gilbert Garza cleans up in South Padre Island, Texas, after Hurricane Alex made landfall in Mexico with heavy rains and high winds
Photograph: Larry W. Smith/EPA

A man paddles down Padre Boulevard in his kayak amid Hurricane Alex at South Padre Island, Texas
Photograph: Larry W. Smith/EPA

An oily sailboat heads out on a skimming mission in the Perdido Pass in Orange Beach, Alabama. A $4m oil booming system at the opening of the pass came apart when six foot high swells caused by Hurricane Alex battered the coast
Photograph: Dave Martin/AP

A woman and her son wait to be evacuated from the coast before the arrival of Hurricane Alex in La Carbonera beach, Tamaulipas state, Mexico
Photograph: Luis Acosta/AFP/Getty Images

A police car blocks the bridge from South Padre Island as high winds pick up from Hurricane Alex in Texas
Photograph: Larry W. Smith/EPA

Joshua Hernandez prepares to surf the waves of Hurricane Alex at South Padre Island, Texas
Photograph: Larry W. Smith/EPA

Child evacuees look out from a convention centre shelter several hours before the expected arrival of Hurricane Alex, in Matamoros, Mexico
Photograph: Eduardo Verdugo/AP

Sand blows across a tiger dam on a beach as the outer edges of Hurricane Alex approaches the Louisiana coast at Grand Isle. Earlier winds slowed the BP oil spill clean-up effort in the Gulf
Photograph: Patrick Semansky/AP

A Mexican Marine prepares to file a report as a resident refuses to leave his home as Hurricane Alex approaches near Bagdad beach in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Photograph: Tomas Bravo/Reuters

John Harris, in training for a triathlon, runs in the wind and rain as Hurricane Alex makes landfall on the Texas coast at South Padre Island
Photograph: Eric Gay/AP

A kiteboarder struggles through strong winds and a rain squall ahead of Hurricane Alex at Port Aransas, Texas
Photograph: KeystoneUSA-ZUMA/Rex Features

A man hauls a box to shore ahead of Hurricane Alex, the first Atlantic hurricane of the year, in La Carbonera, north-eastern Mexico
Photograph: Eduardo Verdugo/AP

A haze hangs over the beach South Padre Island as Hurricane Alex hits the Texas coast
Photograph: Eric Gay/AP