MEXICO CITY, Sept 25 (Askume) – Tropical Storm John is moving rapidly after hitting the Mexican state of Guerrero and is expected to become a hurricane again, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Wednesday.
John made its first landfall as a hurricane on Monday, causing floods, landslides, collapsed houses and killing at least five people. It then brought heavy rainfall to several states, including major ports and beach resorts, before intensifying again.
The storm returned to the Pacific on Wednesday, and the National Hurricane Center now predicts that John will make another landfall on mainland Mexico on Thursday morning.
“Sea surface temperatures are favorable for this storm,” Civil Protection meteorologist Fermin Damian Adame said at a news conference, predicting a new round of “heavy” rain on Friday.
The Mexican government on Wednesday issued a hurricane warning for the Pacific coast between Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán state, and Tecpan de Galiana, Guerrero state.
Tropical storm warnings were also issued for other cities east of Tecpan de Galiana, including the resort city of Acapulco, which is still recovering from last year’s Hurricane Otis.
The Miami-based National Health Commission warned of the possibility of “catastrophic” flooding and landslides in four states along Mexico’s Pacific coast.
John’s initial onslaught left about 100,000 homes without power, with trees and power poles downed, and roofs blown off.
A landslide in the village of Tlacochistrahuaca in Guerrero state, one of Mexico’s poorest states, reportedly killed five people, including a 10-year-old boy and his mother who were trapped in their home.
St. John hit the Costa Chica region of southern Guerrero state on Tuesday and is now expected to hit the northern coast, Costa Rio Grande. State officials said about 4,000 homes in the resort city of Acapulco were at risk and urged people living in low-lying areas to immediately move to shelters.
Last year, Hurricane Otis devastated Acapulco, killing more than 50 people and causing an estimated $15 billion in damage, with forecasters surprised that the storm reached Category 5 strength in less than a day.
Scientists say human-caused climate change is causing ocean temperatures to rise, making storms more powerful and giving communities less time to deal with their impacts.
