Well, folks - Alex has gone ashore about 80 miles south of us. I am sure, everyone, including me, are grateful that we didn't get anything more than what we did. I appreciate you taking this journey with me - tomorrow I will post pictures of some of the aftermath of flooding and wind damages that I can find.

Prayers are being said for the folks in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico - they are going to be hit hard.

You can also follow my other blog - www.lifeofaladypi.blogspot.com

All is safe, a little wind still, some rain - so for now - Good-night!

Due to the weather, even the Basilica in San Juan has closed it's doors.

Lots of wind - increasing wind and rain right now.

ha one of my buddies, Donnie wrote, "The damn frogs in the field behind the house are almost making more noise than the hurricane!" (the field is behind his house and it's an orchard! ha) I figured by now they would have drown as much rain as we've gotten. I'm measuring 11" so far.

Victor has a live cast going on the storm from his window you can view it at : http://www.livestream.com/victorroberts

Talk about the best friends - both came out in a driving rain and snipped that darn limb I was concerned that might fly through the window at me! THANK YOU Donnie and Victor! You are my heros tonight and that, my friends, is what true friendship is all about! Helpng each other when we need it the most - no matter what time nor what the weather is like!

Hmmm now they say the bad boy is coming in around midnight. Okay whenever just stop being fickled and make up your mind where you are going, Alex. You definetly remind me of an ex-boyfriend - oh and I had several clients like you too - just thought you were so powerful and mighty but in the end you couldn't make up your mind where you were going and you fizzled out.

I have one limb I'm concerned with - it broke during one of the earlier wind storms this afternoon. Now it keeps banging into the 2 windows on the east side. I'm hoping it will just break off and fall down on the ground without any damages to anything. I went out on a ladder and tried to pull it down - but the wind almost blew me and the ladder down - so aborted that idea. I figure I'm on faith and prayer right now where that limb is concerned.

Raining pretty steady - nothing hard like we had earlier. Wind is about 25-30 mph right now.

Good side of all of this - is my trailer is clean! ha I'm talking major spring cleaning took place around here today! Other good side, tomorrow - barring any flooded roads and after a few pictures of the area - I'm going home!

The river level is rising near the Arroyo Colorado river. It appears a tornado touched down in the San Pedro community. A water station flipped over (these are real popular in the valley for getting bottled water for .25 cents a gallon), a semi-trailer tipped over and tree limbs are scattered everywhere.

Another calm before the storm it appears. Local stations are predicting landfall at approximately 7pm - that's another 1.5 hours. Sporadic flooding is occuring all across the valley right now - as well is in Mexico.

The calm before the storm didn't last long - back to extremely strong winds and twirling rain. It's difficult to tell which direction the wind and rain is coming from.

Hwy 107 in Edinburg near the courthouse is closed down - however there is one trial still going on - everyone else has left the building - I'm wondering if that is the John Rubio trial? They sure are wanting to get that one over with. I wonder if the Judge who is still holding court realizes "HEY There is a HURRICANE COMING DUDE!" If I were a juror - I'd probably not be a happy camper for him keeping me there. Just saying...

More toronados are touching down - slightly here and there.

The rain has temporarily stopped. The wind is almost nil. I am supposing this is the calm before another squal outburst.

It is REALLLLLLY raining and blowing hard!

HOLY MOLEY! That gust made the trailer shake a little - okay - looks like the rodeo has begun!

There goes someone's lawn chair flying in the air, bouncing, and rumbling down the street thanks to the wind. Tisn't mine. Mine are all stored away - safe and sound.

I did get some good news awhile ago. Received a call from an attorney I work with. One of the less than 5 defendants in my entire career who I believe is innocent - has passed a polygraph and both experts agree they do not believe he is culpable. Let's see how this one plays out - that will be another story as soon as it goes to trial - on my other blog - www.lifeofaladypi.blogspot.com

I have also gotten another quilt cut out. I'm wishing I had more of this fabric - I'd love to make the quilt larger than what this appears it is going to be. Much larger. Big girls like big quilts!

Lights have flickered. So far, they are still on. Winds are increasing and so is the rain. This is the heaviest so far.

Winds have really picked up in the last 30 minutes. There are very strong gusts taking place right now along with rain. Alex must be getting closer to coming ashore.

I'm ready for the storm to come and go - I want to go over and check on a few friends in Nuevo Progresso - their houses aren't real sturdy - and I want to know that are okay before I go home.

A tornado watch has now been issued for Cameron County. A tornado touched down in Brownsville - no injuries reported.

Flooding is beginning to take place in Matamoros, Tamulipas, Mexico (across from Brownsville). Drainage in that city is deplorable and has been for the thirty something years I've been coming down here. A good thunder bumper East Texas rain can make it flood - I can only imagine what this continued rain is going to do there.

I'm praying for the folks in the low lying areas - in the Colonias. They have so little to begin with and when this happens it is hard for folks to get back on their feet.

National Guard has arrived - you can see their presence around the county.

The Texas Department of Transportation has announced the Queen Isabella Memorial Causeway will be closed at 1:30 p.m. That's the causeway that goes over to South Padre Island.

Thinking about my friends on Bolivar right now - who are getting high waters and lots of rain. Many are only beginning to recover from Hurricane Ike. Hey, ya'll, know we are thinking and praying for ya! I understand the road from High Island to Bolivar has been closed off.

Also talked with another friend, Kathy, who's family always fishes during July 4th at San Luis Pass, that is out of the question. High water there and along Blue Water Highway.

Friends in Corpus report strong tides, rising water, and rain, as well.

Guess we are all along the Texas gulf coast going to be affected by Mr. Alex...

A slight not so smart man - 2 blocks away is weed eating in the middle of the rain. (according to the neighbor who calls and wants to know if I will come out in the rain and talk to him - uhm - NO) .. okay .... I did say a slight not so smart man . . . I'm not about to get out in the rain right now a picture him. Que wappas!

Compliments of Steve, in case my nerves get
the best of me later today - thus far, I am in great
shape and the bottle hasn't been opened.

Telephone man said he didn't mind being on call - during

storms - he gets double time! Nice...

Bless my postal lady, Sylvia's, heart - rain, wind, sleet nor snow - keeps her from delivering and we are having a real burst of rain right now! THANK YOU Sylvia! You are the BEST USPS delivery lady I've ever had!

NWS radar image from Brownsville, TX radar.weather.gov
Latest weather radar images from the National Weather Service

Me and a neighbor are noticing "strange" trucks driving through the neighborhood - who do not belong to any of our neighbors. Hmmm..... they best be friend and not foe.....

The bands of heavy rain will continue moving across the rest of the Valley this morning. A Flood Watch remains in effect through Thursday, and FIRST WARN 5 meteorologists say flooding will be a threat throughout the storm. Rain could exceed 15 inches.Hurricane Alex has sustained winds of 80 mph. It's moving WNW at 7 mph. It's expected to make landfall this evening on the coast of Northern Mexico, south of Brownsville. A storm surge of 3-5 feet is possible on the South Texas coast.Meteorologist Jonathan Owens says we can expect tropical storm force winds and heavy rain. Shelters remain open across the Valley. This is from KRGV local station.

My rain gauge shows 7" of rain here so far.

The rain is really coming down - according to local weather reports, the rain is to increase immensely later this afternoon.

Squal knocked down a billboard not far from where I am. It's early in the rodeo for things like this to start flying, I think.

A lot of stores are boarded up - many say
they recall Hurricane Dolly all to well

Discount Tire manager says they will probably close early - but were open in case anyone traveling may need assistance. The workers were busy cleaning and doing other odd jobs - there were no cars to be worked on.

'scuse me, how does gas go up .14 cents per gallon over night and you didn't get a new shipment in? I loathe stores and owners like this - taking advantage of a bad situation for their own monetary gain...

During the last squal that came through, my neighbors screened
porch got blown apart.

HEB parking lot is fairly bare compared to yesterday. Rain was truly coming down - and dark clouds were rolling in.

This is Business 83 between LaFeria and Harlingen. Normally this road is extremely busy with traffic - as you can see - not so true today

The palm trees are doing a "shimmy-shake" dance at their top - winds were gusting pretty hard when this was taken - wish the photo showed more of the action.

Walgreens is one of the fewer places who has water left!

McCoy's Lumber got in 2 new shipments of lumber this morning. They had just completed the unloading. Inside, customers were waiting to get checked out.

Raining enough the streets are starting to get a little water in them - not enough to write home about really. Checked my lime tree this morning and have already lost more than half that was on the tree. I hope this will not affect the citrus crop this year. This picture is across the street from me. The trees are grapefruit and lemons. The lemons off these trees normally measure 8-10" round. For real - that is not an exaggeration! The rind is real thick. One lemon makes two lemon pies.

Boy what a difference 45 minutes has made. Wind is picking up and howling, rain is coming down in sheets - right now difficult to see to the end of the block. There has been enough rain that my little street is starting to fill up. I'm high and dry - we don't flood here. I am pretty sure it will be off and on like this all day.

I've cleaned the bathroom - funny how we find time to do things when we are slowed down- ha. And, have laid out fabrics to cut a churndash quilt and another "dress" quilt - I don't have a pattern for the later - just going to use the imagination.

Plan, if the lights stay on, to work on my other blog today - I've been jotting things down to be able to add at least 4 more stories to it - www.lifeofaladypi.blogspot.com. Maybe I can do something with it today as well.

While sitting here in front of the bay window, a small little bird just found refuge from the rain under my awning. Poor thing is shivering! Can birds shiver? Well he/she/it is shaking.

Awakening to rain - and lots of clouds. Coffee time for me...

For some reason the clock portion of this is off a little. It's 3:38am - heavy rains are coming down. No winds. In looking at a satellite - I am not expecting anything more than a lot of rain - unless Alex changes courses and starts a little more northward.

I knew an Alex once who was fickled and never could make up his mind...wonder if this one will be the same?

It is still very still. No wind is moving. Just read where the farmers are working around the clock trying to bring in their crops before the heavier rains come. The fear is the potential of millions of dollars in loss if they can't bring the crops in. Please pray for the farmers - they work so hard for their crops - please pray that these won't be lost or that their losses be lessened.

The rain has stopped as quickly as it had begun. Now there is not a breeze moving. Nothing. Not even the lightest of flower stems - nothing. I remember these times - from the other Hurricanes - Rita, Dolly, Ike - it's like whatever is going to happen is sucking all the air out of the system and storing it inside a big huge ballooned belly just so it can blow it back out at us at some point. Very quiet. Very still. Approximately twenty four more hours to go.

Tomorrow I shall cut me out another quilt top - I'll make good production time out of this wait time. I also am going to go around and take some photos - see how others are preparing - or are they?

Having a very hard rain right now. VERY hard. Looking out my window at the neighbors back yard across the way - his pet duck is waddling around throwing her head up in the air - she must really be enjoying the rain. She best find some where to light when the wind picks up or all her feathers may blow smooth off. She is strutting - she thinks she is royalty - the queen in a waterfall bath.

The last of the RVs and campers are off of South Padre Island and probably the Causeway will be closed either this evening or tomorrow. This is really a bummer for the folks who have businesses there - many of these businesses are just recovering from Hurricane Dolly two years ago this September.

The wind is getting stronger here - we get really heavy gusts - then it dies down to nothing. I am sure this will become the norm until all we get is wind.

I am not so worried about myself - I am genuinely concerned for the folks in the colonias who can't stand much rain as it is. Probresitos, they can only do so much for themselves with what little they earn.

Winds pick up and then subside. Am sure this will continually get worse as the evening progresses. Have busied myself with cleaning and reloading the van (which I finally got back). I've cut out a quilt top, readying myself to sew - for as long as there is power and lights. I've got a few "things" to do - between working on a new quilt top and sewing a couple of blouses. That should occupy my time. Went to town, just to kill some time, some folks are freaking out over this storm. I think they've been watching too much television or news media. I don't have television here, don't want it. I can find other things to do with my time. I can make my own self nervous watching the events and weather unfold - rather than sitting, constantly listening to the same buzz words over and over. More later... I hear a bacon sandwich calling my name.

Neighbors down the street have small children. One little girl is crying, "I don't want to stay, we stayed last time and it made me afraid!" Evidently, they are going to ride the storm out as well. I never thought what affect or fears or anxieties a storm may have on a child. I always looked at children as resilient and could weather anything and bounce back. It's been at least 2 years since Hurricane Dolly hit South Texas. Evidently, that isn't long enough for this child to overcome her fears. Praying she has a safe and peaceful journey through this storm.

The intermittant rain is coming down - really coming down with some pretty good gusts of wind with it. The storm still miles out in the Gulf, has sped up some, I read. I believe that is a good thing, it won't have the time in the Gulf to really build up wind and it will come ashore faster. Whever it lands... I pray for everyone's safety.

Traffic along Expressway 83 West and Hwy 77 North are starting to build up - folks are getting off of work and heading out. Several older folks who've come south to make this their home, have headed north - many for Kerrville area - one lady said, "If I have to go somewhere it might as well be somewhere nice and pretty." She absolutely got it right about Kerrville being both of those. Safe travels, my friend.

Wind is twisting, sometimes coming from the south and sometimes the southeast. Wish I had this doggone limb by the house cut off - a little late for that now - I am assuming.

This is Expressway 83 near Harlingen - the clouds are starting to build up rather thick.

Winds are picking up a little right now - becoming a little more cloudy. The nice mid-80s temperature is welcomed for a change from the normally 100+ temperature. I'm surprised at the lack of businesses boarding up.

Cameron County and City of Harlingen and other cities are beginning to issue sandbags.

Home Depot, Lowes, & McCoys parking lots are full of folks purchasing plywood. I'm boarded up - at least my sun room is - thanks to Jess and a neighbor, Denny Fields.

The parakeets in the park are real loud - louder than usual. They may be telling each other "we need to get the heck out of here boys and girls!" I hope they find a nice, warm, safe, place during the impending storm.

Typical sight of today at most gas stations. Many of the owners are hoping for a new shipment tonight or in the morning. Hurricane is expected to hit this area around 7pm on Wednesday.

Canned meat shelves are getting bare. More trucks with supplies are due in tonight or first thing in the morning. People were fighting over cans of vienna sausage and potted meats.

The store shelves are baren where bread once was ... the only breads left are the "high dollar" breads and buns.

More clouds are rumbling in. These clouds are really a blessing keeping the normal 100 plus degree weather to a minimum. I'm having much troubles keeping Internet service going, as I'm so close to the border of Mexico and my understanding is Mexico gets our airwaves a lot of times because of the location of our towers. Many times while here I don't receive calls nor messages.

As typical the beginning of a storm, the clouds are coming and going with intermittant rain, at times heavy. The ground is so dry right now it is absorbing the wetness as fast as it falls. This may not be the case tonight nor tomorrow. Neighbors are helping the older folks board up. It seems the older people have more fears right now.

I have a small place between Harlingen and LaFeria. My past experiences after hurricanes we have always seen major looting. Thank God for The Castle Law in Texas. I realize these are just "things" but they are mine. I'm hoping no one is looted during this storm.

In less than 2 hours gas prices have jumped 4-9 cents at stations on my route. I stopped to ask one owner if they had just gotten in a new shipment. He stated that they had not. How horrible to raise the price of gas during this time.

Tuesday the first of the rainfall has begun. Dark, heavy clouds greeted me this morning. The rain is intermittant - not anything heavy as of yet. The rain, for now, reminds me of a good ol' East Texas hot afternoon slow rain. There hasn't been any thunder nor lightening so far. HEB bread and canned meats shelves were baren already at 8am this morning. The young clerk who checked me out said the store may get another shipment today and his bosses had called more people in to work to help the people

I overheard an old lady, someone who appeared to me to be in her late 80s or even 90s, fretting over what her needs for this potential storm maybe versas what she had left on her food stamp card. The great-granddaughter told her not to worry, that the great-granddaughter had money for her

My fear of much rain is for the "pobres" who live in the colonias outside of the cities. Irrigation, water problems are always a problem for them even with 2" of rain. I pray they fair well.

A trip to Walmart and Dollar Tree just to check stock of batteries, flashlights, and such showed very low supplies.

My bin for a storm has been packed for sometime. Having rode out Hurricanes Rita, Dolly and Ike I'm wondering if you become a pro at being prepared. Then I think, " how can you ever be prepared of the unkown of a huuricane and what it might bring?"

Travel with me through this journey. I will try to post as often as possible to let you know what is happening.