Posted: Wed, 30 Jun 2010 02:19 PM - 10,587 Readers

By: Mike Ward

Tropical Storm Alex had little to do with the heavy rains that swamped much of Austin on Tuesday afternoon, but the storm was widely blamed for it nonetheless.

"I hate Alex," said Beau Benson, a 34-year-old software engineer. "I live downtown. I just want to get home. It's taken half the afternoon." He stood in ankle-deep water at Exposition and Lake Austin boulevards beside his stalled Mini Cooper. He said he had come down Exposition from 35th Street as a shortcut home after spending nearly an hour in stalled traffic on MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1).

In little more than three hours, as much as 4 inches of rain fell across parts of Austin, with the heaviest rain recorded in the south and southwest areas of the city, according to the National Weather Service. Manchaca, south of Austin, got 4.31 inches, the weather service said.

Rain is expected to return today , this time thanks to Alex, which reached hurricane strength late Tuesday as it approached the Mexican coast south of Brownsville. Bands of showers and thunderstorms from Alex are expected to reach Central Texas during the day and should continue through at least Thursday. Today's forecast calls for a 70 percent chance for showers. The area could see 4 to 7 more inches of rain by Saturday, the weather service said.

The downpours Tuesday caused flooding of low-water crossings. By 5:15 p.m., just in time for evening rush hour, five roads had been closed.

Austin Energy reported scattered outages. At 9:30 p.m., 200 customers were without power. Many of the outages were in the Gracy Farms and Burnet Road areas of North Austin, according to Austin Energy. Some 53 locations required service, and officials did not expect to have power restored to all customers until today .

Firefighters responded to a house fire at 7729 Journeyville Drive in Southwest Austin after it was struck by lightning. No injuries were reported.

But mostly, the rain wreaked havoc on roadways.

In the eastbound lanes of 15th Street at MoPac, Melanie Best, 43, waited for her husband after her Honda Accord had stalled in curb-deep water, snarling one lane during rush hour. As she stood beneath an umbrella on the sidewalk, a passing truck splashed her without stopping, she said.

"I don't even care," she said. "Nothing's moving on MoPac. Tomorrow has to be better."

Kenda Powers, who said she came to visit Austin friends, awaited a wrecker on Lamar Boulevard just north of 29th Street after her car died in a big pool in one northbound lane. Frustrated motorists honked. Powers fired back with a one-finger salute that drew more honks.

"You'd think people hadn't ever seen rain this hard," she said. "Hey. Deal with it."

For some, the heavy rains offered an afternoon diversion. On the Fifth Street bridge over a raging Shoal Creek, Chas Hendricks, 26, and John Parker, 31, sipped martinis beneath a golf umbrella as they counted items flying by beneath them.

"Nine trash cans so far. Six ice chests. Lawn furniture. Eight big plastic bags. A lot of kids' balls," Parker said. "This junk is all going into Town Lake. Yuck."

*  Story Contributed by: Mike Ward