Hurricane Alex threatens Gulf of Mexico

A resident holds a shovel as he waits for his friends to remove a fish net off the sand as Hurricane Alex approaches near Bagdad beach in Matamoros, Mexican state of Tamaulipas June 30, 2010. Hurricane Alex strengthened in the Gulf of Mexico early on Wednesday and was expected to make landfall later in the day but skirt Mexican oil rigs and US oil fields, alleviating concerns in crude markets.[Agencies]