Hurricane Agatha has made history as the strongest hurricane to come ashore in May during the eastern Pacific storm season, ripping off roofs and washing out roads before fading on Tuesday over southern Mexico.
Oaxaca state governor Alejandro Murat told MVS Noticias on Tuesday that eight people were listed as missing in either mudslides or flooding.
The storm hit Oaxaca on Monday afternoon as a strong Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105mph, then quickly lost power as it moved inland over the mountainous interior.
Remnants of Agatha were moving north east on Tuesday into Veracruz state, with sustained winds down to 30mph.
The US National Hurricane Centre said the storm should dissipate by the evening, but warned that the system’s heavy rains still posed a threat of dangerous floods for Mexico’s southern states.
2 PM EDT Tuesday May 31: A low pressure area is forecast to form near the Yucatan Peninsula in a couple of days. There is a high chance of this system becoming a tropical depression as it moves northeastward over the northwestern Caribbean Sea and southeastern Gulf of Mexico. pic.twitter.com/hCjC8gEn97
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) May 31, 2022
Several municipalities near the coast remained without power on Tuesday and mudslides blocked a number of the state’s highways.
San Isidro del Palmar, a couple miles inland from the coast, was swamped by the Tonameca river that flows through town.
Residents waded through neck-deep water to salvage what items they could from their homes, walking gingerly with piles of clothing on their heads and religious figures in their arms.
Argeo Aquino, who had lived in the town his whole life, could recall only two other occasions when he saw such flooding.
“The houses are totally flooded, so they are getting everything out,” he said on Monday as he watched his neighbours.
“There are stores, houses. More than anything else, we have to try to save all the good material, because everything else is going to be washed away.”
The Tonameca’s brown waters reached the windows of parked cars and the minibuses used for local transport.
Nearby, heavy rain and high winds lashed the beach town of Zipolite, known for its clothing-optional beach and bohemian vibe.
The wind howled for about six hours on Monday, said Silvia Ranfagni, manager of the Casa Kalmar hotel in Zipolite.
“The sound of the wind was really loud, high-pitched,” she said. “It started at 1pm when the telephone coverage went out and it didn’t calm down until 7.30.
“A lot of trees were down, roads washed out. A lot of metal and thatched roofs were blown off.”
Agatha formed on Sunday and quickly gained power. It was the strongest hurricane on record to make landfall in May in the eastern Pacific, said Jeff Masters, meteorologist with Yale Climate Connections and the founder of Weather Underground.
