Hurricane Simon and storm Rachel claim five lives in Mexico
This year's hurricane season is expected to be more intense due to the El Niño phenomenon. In addition to the death of a 71-year-old man caused by Simon, four members of a family, including two children, died as a result of Storm Rachel.
Image of Hurricane Simon
The passage of Hurricane Simón and Tropical Storm Rachel along the Mexican Pacific coast left at least five people dead due to heavy rains and flooding in coastal towns, authorities reported Monday.
This year's hurricane season is expected to be more intense due to the El Niño phenomenon. In addition to the death of a 71-year-old man caused by Simón, four members of a family, including two children, died as a result of Tropical Storm Rachel.
The bodies of the four victims of Rachel were found on the outskirts of the city of Ensenada, in the state of Baja California, a poor and sparsely urbanized area, the state prosecutor's office reported.
Five other people remained missing, while security forces, with the support of helicopters, rescued 32 people who were stranded in various locations throughout the region, the prosecutor's office added.
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Hurricane Simón, for its part, did not make landfall or cause the severe devastation that had been feared.
An AFP team is in the tourist destination of Puerto Vallarta, in the state of Jalisco, where Simón was expected to make landfall as a major hurricane. It began to weaken on Sunday and is now moving away from the coast: dawn broke with clear skies and a rainbow arching across the sky.
The hurricane is classified as a Category 2 out of 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with winds reaching 96 mph (155 km/h), according to the latest available report. Although it is moving away from the coast, authorities remain on alert due to the heavy rains it may still cause and anticipate waves of up to five meters in some towns.
The forecast also predicts that it will make landfall on Wednesday in Sinaloa, a little further north, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC).
As it skirted the coast, Simón caused torrential rains in Jalisco and Guerrero, where a 71-year-old person died "when a wall collapsed," Governor Evelyn Salgado reported.
The iconic resort town of Acapulco also suffered flooding last week.
Towns near rivers and streams that had risen also experienced flooding and landslides in other states along Mexico's Pacific coast, such as Michoacán and Colima, according to Civil Protection.
"Much calmer"
Magda Flores, 55, said she felt "much calmer" and is confident that the businesses that are still closed will reopen soon. The airport is also closed.
"We need to get business back on track," as this year has been "very tough" for Puerto Vallarta, she said, referring to the economic downturn this tourist destination suffered following the criminal rampage by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel in retaliation for the death of its founder, Nemesio El Mencho Oseguera, in February.
El Niño warms the waters of the Pacific and fosters the formation of strong cyclones.
The first cyclone on the Atlantic side, Isaiah, left at least four people dead after making landfall on October 9 on the U.S. coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
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