Alpha leaves at least 10 dead before weakening

? Alpha, the Atlantic season’s record-breaking 22nd named storm, left at least 10 people dead in Haiti and the Dominican Republic before moving north into the Atlantic Ocean and weakening into a tropical depression, authorities said Monday.

The storm also left two dozen people missing in the two countries as mudslides and overflowing rivers flooded streets and destroyed homes, according to officials in both nations.

Alpha passed over the two nations that share the Caribbean island of Hispaniola and heavy rains on ground already saturated from other recent storms, including Hurricane Wilma – which was blamed for 12 deaths in Haiti.

Alpha rumbled ashore Saturday as a tropical storm with maximum winds of 50 mph near the southern Dominican town of Barahona and doused the region with showers.

It was later downgraded to a tropical depression after passing over the mountainous zone near the Dominican border with Haiti. The system moved into the open Atlantic after passing over the southeastern Bahamas. It posed no threat to the United States and was expected to dissipate.