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 Photograph: Obed Campos Guzman/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Luis Acosta/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Larry W. Smith/guardian.co.uk A man paddles down Padre Boulevard in his kayak amid Hurricane Alex at South Padre Island, Texas Photograph: Larry W. Smith/EPA Photograph: Larry W. Smith/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Dave Martin/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Luis Acosta/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Larry W. Smith/guardian.co.uk Joshua Hernandez prepares to surf the waves of Hurricane Alex at South Padre Island, Texas Photograph: Larry W. Smith/EPA Photograph: Larry W. Smith/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Eduardo Verdugo/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Patrick Semansky/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Tomas Bravo/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Eric Gay/guardian.co.uk A kiteboarder struggles through strong winds and a rain squall ahead of Hurricane Alex at Port Aransas, Texas Photograph: KeystoneUSA-ZUMA/Rex Features Photograph: KeystoneUSA-ZUMA/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Eduardo Verdugo/guardian.co.uk A haze hangs over the beach South Padre Island as Hurricane Alex hits the Texas coast Photograph: Eric Gay/AP Photograph: Eric Gay/guardian.co.uk