Tropical Storm John hits Mexico's Pacific coast / Photo: © AFP
Tropical Storm John hits Mexico's Pacific coast
A tropical storm that slammed into Mexico's southern Pacific coast as a major hurricane weakened Tuesday, but forecasters warned of strong rains and flash floods inundating the coast for the next few days.
"Slow-moving John will bring very heavy rainfall to coastal portions of southwest Mexico through the upcoming week," the US-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
"This heavy rainfall will likely cause significant and possibly catastrophic, life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides" in the southern states of Chiapas, Oaxaca and Guerrero.
Authorities had warned residents to seek shelter as strong winds and rain battered beaches ahead of John making landfall near Marquelia in Guerrero.
The NHC said maximum sustained winds weakened to around 70 miles (110 kilometers) per hour -- after earlier topping 120 mph -- according to an 0900 GMT update.
A tropical storm warning was in effect from east of Acapulco to Lagunas de Chacahua on the Pacific coast, it added.
"Additional rapid weakening is anticipated, and John is expected to become a tropical depression later today," the NHC said.
Through Thursday, John was forecast to produce up to 15 inches of rain in parts of Chiapas, and nearly double that in areas of Oaxaca and Guerrero, it said.
"John is producing extraordinary rains (greater than 250 mm) (9.8 inches) in Oaxaca and Guerrero; torrential rains in Chiapas," the National Civil Protection agency said in a post on X early Tuesday.
The agency had issued a red alert on Monday, telling people to stay indoors and keep away from windows.
- 'Things are replaceable' -
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador also warned people living along the affected coastline to be prepared.
"Seek higher ground, protect yourselves and do not forget that the most important thing is life; material things are replaceable," he wrote on X.
Authorities in Oaxaca said Monday that they were opening temporary shelters, suspending school classes, closing beaches and mobilizing machinery in case needed to clear roads.
School classes in Guerrero were also cancelled on Tuesday, the state education agency said on X.
The international airport in the tourist resort of Puerto Escondido suspended all flights.
In Guerrero, authorities said around 300 temporary shelters were ready if needed.
Restaurant workers were seen bringing furniture in from beaches, while fishermen returned to shore.
Hurricanes hit Mexico every year on both its Pacific and Atlantic coasts, usually between May and November.
In October last year, Hurricane Otis, a scale-topping Category 5 storm, left a trail of destruction and several dozen people dead after slamming into the beachside city of Acapulco in Guerrero.
Otis rapidly intensified within hours from a tropical storm to the most powerful category of the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, taking authorities by surprise.
(H.Duplantier--LPdF)
