At least ten people were killed and others approximately twenty are ignored after hitting coastal areas in the state of Oaxaca (southern Mexico) on Monday Cyclone Agatha – which yesterday Tuesday was downgraded by meteorologists to a tropical storm -, according to local authorities.
“So far, we have about twenty missing (…) in mountainous areas”, said on Radio Formula Alejandro Murat, the governor of the state. “Ten (people) lost their lives”, he added.
An earlier report released by the governor spoke of three dead and eight missing.
“After Agatha reached the ground, the day ended without any loss of life, but the heavy rains that fell early on Tuesday morning (yesterday) caused rivers to overflow and landslides.” Mr. Murat explained earlier.
The phenomenon, the first cyclone of the period off the Mexican coast in the Pacific Ocean, reached above the ground while was characterized as a Category 2 storm on the five-point Sapphire-Simpson scale yesterday afternoon (local time), west of Puerto Angel (2,500 inhabitants), in the state of Oaxaca.
It was the “strongest” cyclone recorded on the Mexican coast in the Pacific anyone May since 1949, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).
Agatha was heading south on Tuesday to the state of Veracruz (east), causing torrential rainfall there and elsewhere in southern Mexico.
About 5,240 tourists are in high risk areas, mainly in resorts like Puerto Escondido and Waatulcoaccording to local authorities.
Mexico is hit each year by tropical cyclones off the coast of both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, generally from May to November.
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