At least 11 dead in Mexico in first hurricane of the season

MEXICO CITY, 1st June, 2022 (WAM) — At least 11 people have died after Hurricane Agatha cut a swathe across Mexico, German news agency (dpa) reported.

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.

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

At least 11 people died and a further 21 people were still missing, Alejandro Murat, the governor of the southern Mexican state, said on Tuesday evening.

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

Murat said schools in the worst affected regions would remain closed on Wednesday.

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.