Hurricane Agatha has already caused 10 deaths in Mexico and 20 are missing

The hurricane agatethe first of the season in the Pacific has already been harvested at least 10 dead in Mexico, where else 20 people are still missingas reported Tuesday by Alejandro Murat, governor of the state of Oaxaca, where the cyclone landed with force on Monday.

“Unfortunately we have 10 dead and 20 missing, most of them are in the upper part, in the mountain area, this is preliminary,” Murat told the TeleFómula television channel, citing reports from local authorities.

In addition, he explained that the main causes of death and disappearance were the floods of rivers, which overflowed, and landslides in the highlands.

According to the head of the local government, in the municipality of Santiago Xanica, located about 65 kilometers from the coast, 6 dead and 10 missing were reported due to the overflow of the Copalita River. Two other people remain missing in two communities.

In the early hours of this Tuesday, the authorities had reported at least four dead and four missing in Mexican territory after the assault of Cyclone Agatha, which before weakening the left damage in the southern state of Oaxaca, one of the poorest areas in the country.

Adelfo Regino, head of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI), reported the death of two people in the community of Xanaguia due to a landslide in the mountains, while the Oaxaca Civil Protection Coordination confirmed to local media the death of a woman in San Mateo Pinas.

These deaths add to the discovery of the body of a man who was reported missing in Huatulco, where the storm pushed him into a river.

“After the passage of Hurricane Agatha there pain, desolation and severe affectionsin particular in the Sierra Sur de Oaxaca “, Regino, a native of the area, complained on his official networks.

They had described Hurricane Agatha as “dangerous”

Cyclone Agatha, the first of its 2022 season in the Pacific Ocean, degraded this Tuesday to a low remaining pressure as it lost power as it passed through southern Mexico, according to the National Meteorological Service (SMN) in a warning, the latest before the loss of force of the phenomenon.

Previously, the government of Mexico had classified Agatha as a hurricane “dangerous”for which he placed 75 municipalities of Oaxaca and 294 municipalities of Oaxaca and Chiapas on maximum alert, states in the south of the country with a high indigenous population, on orange alert, due to the high danger.

The SMN predicted that Agatha would land as a Category 3 hurricane, albeit eventually made an impact this Monday in category 2.

After landing, the cyclone it caused winds of 140 to 170 kilometers per hour and waves of six to eight meters high on the coast of Oaxaca, with gusts from 90 to 110 kilometers per hour with waves from four to six meters high on the coast of Chiapas and Guerrero.

Although it has already weakened, the SMN has warned that Agatha “still causes heavy rains in torrential points that could generate an increase in the level of rivers and streams, landslides and floods in the lower areas of Oaxaca, Chiapas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche and Quintana. Roo “.

Six Municipalities in “extraordinary emergency”

After the impact of the cyclone, the National Coordination of Civil Protection (CNPC) issued a “Extraordinary emergency declaration” in six municipalities in the state of Oaxaca.

The Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) has reported more than 70,000 affected users in Oaxaca and Veracruz.

But the total damage count will take days due to the complexity of the area, characterized by remote communities, located in the mountains and with a high percentage of indigenous population.

“As the effects of Cyclone Agatha diminish, institutions providing support to the population have begun to implement coordinated strategies to cope with emergency situations caused by rain and winds,” said the National Commission for Water (Conagua) .

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador had also ruled out in the morning that there was serious damage.

“I have information that fortunately the cyclone, the hurricane, is losing strengthWe haven’t had any major damage so far. The entire federal government, the state governments, are participating, “he explained in his morning press conference.

It will be an “active season” of tropical phenomena

Agatha’s arrival marked the beginning of a “active season” of tropical phenomenaas anticipated by the SMN.

Indeed, the remnants of this cyclone could become the first tropical storm this year in the Atlantic, the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported Tuesday.

The Mexican weather forecast on May 17 the formation of up to 40 tropical phenomena named by 2022of which at least five will impact the country, both in the Pacific and Atlantic.

In the case of the Pacific, they said 8 to 10 tropical storms are expected, 4 to 5 Category 1 and 2 hurricanes, and 2 to 4 hurricanes categories 3, 4 and 5.

Meanwhile, 16 to 21 systems are expected for the Atlantic: 10 to 11 tropical storms, 4 to 6 Category 1 and 2 hurricanes and 2 to 4 categories 3, 4 and 5.

With information from EFE

DB