Casualties as hurricane Agatha wallops southern Mexico

Heavy rains trigger landslides and flooding, leaving at least 10 people dead and 20 others missing, officials say.

Agatha, the first hurricane of the Pacific season, was the strongest to make landfall along Mexico's Pacific coast in May since record-keeping began in 1949.
Reuters

Agatha, the first hurricane of the Pacific season, was the strongest to make landfall along Mexico's Pacific coast in May since record-keeping began in 1949.

Hurricane Agatha has left at least 10 people dead and 20 others missing in southern Mexico, where heavy rains triggered landslides and flooding, officials said.

"Right now we're at around 20 people missing, most of them are in the upper mountains," Oaxaca state governor Alejandro Murat told Radio Formula, adding that "ten who lost their lives were unfortunately preliminarily reported by local authorities."

"Heavy rains that occurred early Tuesday morning caused rivers to burst their banks and landslides," Murat added.

The storm, the first hurricane of the Pacific season, was the strongest to make landfall along Mexico's Pacific coast in May since record-keeping began in 1949, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

Agatha weakened as it moved inland after lashing coastal tourist towns, but its remnants continued to bring downpours to parts of southern Mexico.

More heavy rain expected

Agatha made landfall on Monday near Puerto Angel in Oaxaca as a Category Two hurricane — the second-lowest on a scale of five — with winds of 165 kilometres per hour.

Its remnants were expected to continue moving inland over southern Mexico on Tuesday, producing more heavy rain with a risk of flooding and mudslides, the NHC said.

Mexico is regularly lashed by tropical storms on both its Pacific and Atlantic coasts, generally between the months of May and November.

The deadliest storm to hit Mexico last year was a Category 3 hurricane called Grace that killed 11 people in the eastern states of Veracruz and Puebla in August.

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