Storm Hermine moves into south Texas

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Hermine headed into south Texas on Tuesday after dumping heavy rain onto northeastern Mexico near the Texas border, a region still recovering from Hurricane Alex's visit in June.

Hermine, the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, was expected to weaken as it moved north through Texas to Oklahoma at about 17 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in its 4 a.m. CDT (0900 GMT) report.

The storm was 65 miles southwest of Corpus Christi, Texas, and a tropical storm warning was in effect from the mouth of the Rio Grande River to Port O'Connor, Texas.

Hermine lashed Texas with rain and winds of 50 mph but forecasters said it was expected to weaken to a tropical depression over the next 48 hours. Its tropical storm force winds extended 105 miles and gusts of up to 72 mph were reported.

"The center of Hermine moved through the Rio Grande Valley earlier this morning and produced sustained tropical storm force winds and gusts to near hurricane force at several reporting sites," the Miami-based hurricane center said.

Authorities in Mexico's Tamaulipas state where the storm made landfall on Monday evacuated 3,000 people from high-risk areas but had no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The storm warning was canceled by early Tuesday for Mexico.

The storm's forecast path kept it away from major oil and natural gas installations in the Gulf of Mexico, and energy companies said there had been no affect on their operations.

The Miami-based hurricane center warned the storm could dump heavy rain of 4 to 8 inches on its path through Texas to Oklahoma and would pack a 1-to-3-foot (0.75-to-1.25-m) storm surge that could cause deadly flash flooding and mudslides.

Hermine made landfall at about 8:30 p.m. CDT (O130 GMT) around 40 miles south of the Texas border city of Brownsville.

Hurricane Alex hit northeastern Mexico in July, killing 12 people and causing heavy flooding in the business capital of Monterrey. Damage from the storm was estimated at $700 million.

GASTON WEAKENS

In the Atlantic, the remnant of Tropical Storm Gaston moved westward and had a low chance of re-forming as a tropical cyclone during the next 48 hours.

Storm models predicted Gaston would travel almost due west, which would take it very close to Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Energy traders keep a close eye on potentially violent storms approaching the Gulf because it is home to about 30 percent of U.S. oil production, 11 percent of natural gas production and more than 43 percent of U.S. refinery capacity.

The hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30 and is currently in its peak period.

(For the latest news on hurricanes click on http://www.reuters.com/subjects/hurricanes; for links to the National Hurricane Center http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/; for weather models http://www.skeetobiteweather.com/))

(Reporting by Cyntia Barrera Diaz in Mexico City, Erwin Seba in Houston, and Pascal Fletcher in Florida; Editing by Michael Roddy)