21 dead, around 21 missing after hurricane Agatha hits Mexico

21 dead, around 21 missing after hurricane Agatha hits Mexico
June 1, 2022, 9:00 am

Torrential rains and howling winds whipped palm trees and drove tourists and residents into shelters in Mexico's Oaxaca state [Jose de Jesus Cortes/Reuters]

The Anews reported, citing the DPA, at least 11 people have died after Hurricane Agatha cut a swathe across Mexico.

The unusually strong storm marked the first hurricane of the season, and made landfall on Monday near several beach resorts on Mexico's Pacific coast, causing flooding and landslides.

According to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC), it began to weaken as it moved inland and was downgraded to a tropical storm and dissipated by the end of Tuesday.

At least 11 people died and a further 21 people were still missing, Alejandro Murat, the governor of the southern Mexican state, told Radio Fórmula on Tuesday evening (May 31).

Hurricane Agatha made history as the strongest hurricane ever recorded to come ashore in May during the eastern Pacific hurricane season, ripping off roofs and washing out roads before fading Tuesday in southern Mexico. https://t.co/EHEXobH1JB pic.twitter.com/VEqUtuWYJt
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 31, 2022

Murat said some communities on the coast and in the mountainous region of Sierra Sur were still without electricity and phone reception.

According to state-owned electricity company CFE, 70,000 connections were temporarily cut off.

Murat said schools in the worst affected regions would remain closed on Wednesday (June 1).

NOAA: US must prepare for heightened 2022 hurricane season

The NHC said Agatha's remnants were expected to produce heavy rainfall across south-eastern Mexico for a few more days, adding that "life-threatening" flash floods and mudslides were possible.

With winds of up to 165 kilometres per hour, Agatha was a category 2 hurricane, out of a five-point scale and, according to the NHC, the strongest storm to make landfall on Mexico's Pacific coast in the month of May since records began in 1949.

13 dead in US state of Louisiana as category 4 hurricane hit the coastal state

Hurricane season lasts from May 15 to November 30 in the Pacific and from June 1 to November 30 in the Atlantic.

According to experts, climate change is probably causing tropical cyclones to become more intense.

Source: anews

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