It is the second major storm to hit the area this season. Hurricane Alex roared ashore there in June, killing at least 12 people as remnant rains drenched a wide swath of northeastern Mexico for days.
Hermine could approach hurricane strength before making landfall early Tuesday in a sparsely populated area about 80 kilometers south of Matamoros, a city bordering Brownsville, Texas, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. A hurricane watch was issued for the area from Rio San Fernando, Mexico, northward to Baffin Bay in Texas.
The cattle-ranching region is one the most dangerous in Mexico's turf war between two drug cartels. It is the same area 72 migrants were killed two weeks ago in what it believed to be Mexico's worst drug gang massacre to date.
Mexican emergency officials urged people living in low-lying coastal areas to move to shelters, but there were no immediate evacuation plans.
“We urge the general population to be on alert for possible floods and mudslides,” said Salvador Trevino, director of civil defense of Tamaulipas state, where Matamoros is located.
