TAMPICO, Mexico (AP) Tropical Storm Alberto rumbled toward northeast Mexico early Thursday as the first named storm of the season , carrying heavy rains that left three people dead but also brought hope to a region suffering under a prolonged, severe drought.

Mexican authorities downplayed the risk posed by Alberto and instead pinned their hopes on its ability to ease the parched regions water needs.

The (wind) speeds are not such as to consider it a risk, said Tamaulipas state Secretary of Hydrological Resources Ral Quiroga lvarez during a news conference late Wednesday. Instead, he suggested people greet Alberto happily. This is what weve been for for eight years in all of Tamaulipas.

Much of Mexico has been suffering under severe drought , with northern Mexico especially hard hit. Quiroga noted that the states reservoirs were low and Mexico owed the United States a massive water debt in their shared use of the Rio Grande.

This is a win-win event for Tamaulipas, he said.