Hurricane Simon, storm Rachel leave 5 dead in western Mexico

Hurricane Simon pounded western Mexico with more wind and rain on Monday after tropical weather systems caused five deaths and damage in Pacific coastal towns and resorts.

The eye of the Category 2 hurricane remained offshore as its outer bands of winds and rain slammed communities between the Sierra Madre and the Pacific Ocean, near Puerto Vallarta.

Flood advisories were mostly lifted in the southwestern U.S. after the remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel caused weekend flooding in Las Vegas.

In Mexico’s Baja California state, rescuers on Monday combed parts of the coastal city of Ensenada where floodwaters swept away vehicles and damaged homes. At least four people died in the state due to the impact of post-tropical cyclone Rachel.

Resident Johana Nuriulu said the flooding began during the night, shortly after heavy rain knocked out electricity.

“We heard a loud noise that sounded like ocean waves, but really loud,” she said.

A person rides a bicycle through a flooded street in San Francisco, also known as San Pancho, off Mexico’s Pacific Coast. (Christian Ruano/Reuters)

Nuriulu said she went outside and discovered that a nearby stream had overflowed, sending water rushing through the neighbourhood. The waters inundated streets and homes, sweeping away vehicles and other belongings.

“Everything was being dragged away,” Nuriulu said.

Several communities were cut off by landslides and overflowing rivers elsewhere in Baja California.

In the afternoon, the Mexican military used helicopters to rescue 32 people — 22 of them foreigners — from a ranch in Ensenada. Baja California Gov. Marina del Pilar Avila said 13 were youths.

The state secretary of security, Gen. Laureano Carrillo, said that some of the group were missionaries meeting at the ranch and that among them were Germans and Americans.

6 missing in Baja California

Baja California civil protection co-ordinator Ignacio Lozoya said Monday evening that four bodies had been recovered in Ensenada: a 13-year-old girl on Sunday, and two women and a 4-year-old boy on Monday. Lozoya said six people remained missing: four in Ensenada and two from the town of San Felipe, a father and son who went fishing Saturday and did not return.

According to Avila, some 14,000 federal and state personnel had been deployed across Baja California to assist affected residents and respond to the emergency.

A drone view shows waves crash against beachfront buildings as Hurricane Simon remains off Mexico’s Pacific coast, in San Pancho. (Christian Ruano/Reuters)

To the south, Simon downed trees and electricity poles, blocked roads and flooded homes in coastal towns of Guerrero state, including the major seaport of Acapulco, Gov. Evelyn Salgado said at a news conference.

A 71-year-old man died after a wall collapsed in Chilpancingo, Guerrero’s capital, Salgado said.

Simon had maximum sustained winds of 155 km/h late Monday and was expected to remain a hurricane through midweek, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Monday evening. It was slowly approaching the western Mexico coast, where heavy rainfall may produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides before landfall possibly late Friday.

In Puerto Vallarta, workers removed wooden panels from boarded-up storefronts and businesses reopened Monday as rains eased. The popular tourist destination’s international airport suspended operations until Tuesday morning.

Rachel weakened into a post-tropical cyclone as it moved north into Southern California. The storm battered the coast with unusually large waves, which tore apart a boardwalk and smashed into homes in Long Beach. Some residents were forced to evacuate.