forward. a former vice president, a masseuse, and a sex assault case reopened. what happened in portland? al gore s people speaking out. we begin with those heavy rains and tornadoes that are pounding south texas as hurricane alex comes ashore. the season s first hurricane actually made landfall in northeastern mexico with 100-mile-an-hour winds. alex has weakened and it moved inland. it is now a tropical storm. still has the potential to trigger flash floods and mud slides. alex is having an impact on the oil spill cleanup hundreds of miles away. aftereffects of the storm could keep the skimming operation from resuming until this weekend. south padre island, texas, escaped the brunt of the storm but took a big hit. reynolds wolf is there. reynolds? reporter: what we have here is still plenty of wind, rain for the most part is gone. the waves continue to rock against the shores. some of these things have been monsters that have been coming along the coast here. the beac