At least 11 people have died and another 33 are missing from Oaxaca, Mexico, after Hurricane Agatha brought deadly floods and landslides to the southern state, Oaxaca Gov. Alejandro Murat said on Wednesday.
Agatha, the strongest hurricane to hit Mexico’s Pacific coast in May since recordings began in 1949, reached land as a Category 2 hurricane on Monday.
It hit a stretch of small beach town and fishing village with maximum strong winds of 105 mph and moved inland to the mountainous regions of Oaxaca, where it lost much of its power.
Agatha brought torrential rains that caused rivers to overflow and rapidly erode mountain slopes.
More than 40,000 people in the state have been affected by the storm, Murat said. Many have lost electricity or seen their homes destroyed.
Most of the 11 victims were either buried in landslides or drowned in the sudden floods that swept them away.
The gas station sign is on the floor after Hurricane Agatha, in San Isidro del Palmar, Oaxaca, Mexico. REUTERS Aerial view of the badly damaged Puente Heradura (Heradura Bridge) after Hurricane Agatha, Oaxaca, Mexico. AFP via Getty Images
As first aid services continued to search for the missing and begin recovery efforts, Mexican authorities saw another potential threat of a tropical storm.
Forecasters said a large area of thunderstorms on the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan Peninsula has a 70% chance of developing into a tropical depression in the next 48 hours.
With postal wires
Man cleans street after Hurricane Agatha in Huatulco, Oaxaca, Mexico. AFP via Getty Images The beach is covered in debris and debris after Hurricane Agatha, in Zipolit, Oaxaca, Mexico.
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