Tropical Storm Alberto, the season’s first named storm, has weakened as it moves inland over northeast Mexico — but not before bringing heavy rains to the parched region and leaving at least three dead. The storm weakened rapidly over land, but carried several inches of desperately needed rain inland to Mexico’s Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon and Coahuila states, as well as south Texas. Alberto had spurred tropical storm warnings covering most of the western Gulf of Mexico’s coastline from Texas to Veracruz. Schools were closed across Tamaulipas state where Alberto came ashore and would be through Friday. Shelters were prepared across the state to receive residents trying to escape high water. In the village of Surfside Beach, a Texas city on a barrier island, storm surge early Thursday left behind some damaged roads and lots of debris, but “very little damage” to the mostly elevated structures, Mayor Gregg Bisso said. The surge was receding by late morning and “you can almost get around now,” he said. Bisso said the island has a population of about 800 full-time residents with as many as 10,000 vacationers in the summer. AP video shot by Lekan Oyekanmi