Alex, tropical storm again, heads for Mexico east coast

BELIZE CITY - Alex strengthened back into a tropical storm as it moved across the Gulf of Mexico late Sunday after dumping heavy rains on parts of Central America and Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula that left four people dead.

With maximum sustained winds of 45 mph, Alex was on a path that would take it to Mexico's eastern coast around midweek. Its route was still well clear of the massive oil spill in the Gulf.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm will strengthen further over the warm waters of the Gulf and could become a hurricane within 48 hours.

Yesterday, Alex's torrential downpours forced hundreds of tourists to flee resort islands. Winds were at 60 mph when the storm made landfall in Belize on Saturday night.

The heavy rains prompted a landslide in northwestern Guatemala that dislodged a large rock outcropping, killing two men who had taken shelter underneath, according to the national disaster-response agency.

In El Salvador, Civil Protection chief Jorge Melendez said two people were swept away by rivers that jumped their banks.

When Alex became the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, officials worried what effect it could have on efforts to contain the millions of gallons of crude spewing into the Gulf.

A cap has been placed over the blown-out undersea well, directing some of the oil to a surface ship where it is being collected or burned. Other ships are drilling two relief wells, projected to be done by August, which are considered the best hope to stop the leak.

The storm appears likely to miss the oil-slicked region and make landfall, apparently in Tamaulipas state, Mexico, but meteorologists cautioned that a storm's track can change quickly.