Death toll from Hurricane Alex rises

MEXICO CITY (AP) - Tens of thousands of people remain without running water more than a week after Hurricane Alex unleashed severe flooding in northeastern Mexico, the Nuevo Leon state governor said Tuesday.

Gov. Rodrigo Medina de la Cruz told the Televisa television network that 12 people are confirmed dead and three others are missing. He said 130,000 people are known to be without water, and that does not count some communities in mountainous regions that were cut off.

Medina de la Cruz appealed for helicopters to help reach isolated communities with water and other supplies.

"The situation is grave," he said.

Alex slammed into Mexico's northern Gulf coast as a Category 2 hurricane last week. It caused the most damage in Nuevo Leon, though it was down to tropical storm force by the time it hit the inland state.

The key business city of Monterrey saw major streets turned to rampaging rivers that gashed ravines through the pavement down to sewage lines and buried vehicles window deep in rocks and sand.

The storm also damaged rail lines. The state's website says officials hope to have trains running again by Friday through one of Mexico's most important industrial centers.

Medina said damages amounted to 10 billion pesos ($765 million), according preliminary calculations.

In neighboring Coahuila state, officials were evacuating 2,000 people Tuesday near Rio Escondido river, which is still swollen from Alex and could overflow because of it current rains, said Piedras Negras Mayor Jose Manuel Maldonado.