MEXICO CITY, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Mexican state Tamaulipas suspended school classes on Wednesday ahead of the imminent arrival of Hurricane Alex, now rated a category two storm, which is set to make landfall in the nation later on Wednesday.

　　The head of the state's civil protection department, Salvador Trevino Salinas, told reporters that emergency shelters had been set up in Gulf Coast towns, which will provide food and shelter to the temporary refugees.

　　Tamaulipas authorities said that Reynosa, a city with a population of around half a million, is the largest population center at risk of serious damage.

　　The city could be struck by Hurricane Alex at around 8:00 p.m. (0100 GMT Thursday) on Wednesday, three hours after it comes onshore. The storm is then set to cross the border into Texas, the United States. Other population center at risk in Tamaulipas include Matamoros, San Fernando, Soto La Marina, Valle Hermoso and Rio Bravo.

　　Mexico's state-run National Meteorology Service told media that Tamaulipas could expect torrential rain, tornadoes, flash flooding and landslides as the storm hits. Eight of the nine regions covered in the SMN's forecast will embrace storms and strong winds on Wednesday.

　　During its journey up the Atlantic coast, the storm has killed five people in Nicaragua, three in El Salvador and two in Guatemala, according to news reaching here. The first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season has already passed over the Yucantan peninsula in southern Mexico, causing flooding and wind damage in the nation's southern states.