Ten people have died and about 20 are missing following the arrival Monday on the coast of the state of Oaxaca (southern Mexico) of Hurricane Agatha, downgraded Tuesday to a tropical storm, announced the local government. . “Right now, we have around 20 missing people (…) in the mountains”Oaxaca Governor Alejandro Murat told Radio Formula. “Ten lost their lives”he added.
Read alsoDoes global warming promote hurricanes?
“When Agatha made landfall, the day ended with no loss of life, but heavy rains that fell early Tuesday morning caused rivers to burst their banks and caused landslides”Alejandro Murat, governor of this state, told the press on Tuesday. “Three people are dead and eight are missing”. The three people who died were in the localities of Santa Catarina Xanaguia and Llano del Chillar, detailed the Civil Protection of the State.
The phenomenon, the first hurricane of the season on the Pacific coast of Mexico, made landfall as a category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale (which has 5) on Monday afternoon, west of Puerto Angel, a coastal town of about 2,500 inhabitants in the state of Oaxaca. It was “the most violent hurricane” never recorded on the Pacific coast of Mexico in May since 1949, assured Monday the National Hurricane Center of the United States (NHC).
Read alsoA record hurricane season in 2020
Agatha moves to the south of the eastern state of Veracruz on Tuesday, which borders the Gulf of Mexico, causing torrential rains in this region and the south of the country. Some 5,240 tourists have been identified in the risk zone, between the resorts of Puerto Escondido and Huatulco, according to local authorities. Mexico is hit by tropical cyclones on its Pacific and Atlantic coasts every year, usually between May and November.