Floods kill six as hurricane hits Mexico

THE death toll in Mexico from flooding caused by former Hurricane Alex has risen to six, authorities said yesterday.

Leon state civil defence director Jorge Camacho said the victims died in and around the northern city of Monterrey.

President Felipe Calderon toured damaged areas of the city where the force of flood waters had tossed and flipped cars and pick-up trucks, and nearly buried houses in mud and rocks.

Calderon said 1,200 soldiers had been dispatched to help in the relief effort.

The city had been badly hit by heavy rain that swelled the Santa Catarina river, which is normally dry. The flooding damaged bridges in Monterrey as well as railway tracks in the region.

Alex hit Mexico's Gulf coast on Wednesday as a Category 2 hurricane before weakening into a tropical storm while moving inland. It had earlier battered Central America, causing flooding and rock-slides that killed two people in Guatemala and two in El Salvador.

The storm has delayed use of a new vessel to capture oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill site. The Helix producer ship was expected to be taking oil from the well by the end of June, but it will now not be working until the middle of next week.

Once the vessel is working, it has been predicted BP will be capturing 53,000 barrels of oil a day.

There are also plans to use a giant tanker - the "A Whale" - refitted to scoop up oil, at the spill site.

Alex has stopped clean-up efforts in much of the Gulf. Small skimmer boats, in particular, have been unable to operate in choppy seas and have had to return to shore.