the hurricane Agathathe first of the season on Mexico’s Pacific coast, made landfall Monday as a Category 2 cyclone in a tourist region that has been placed on medium alert, the US National Hurricane Center reported ( NHC).
Accompanied by winds of 165 km/h, Agathawhich moves at a speed of 13 km / h, is “the strongest hurricane” ever recorded on the Pacific coast of Mexico in May since 1949, according to the NHC.
The NHC has classified Agatha category 2 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, which has 5 gradations. “We expect thatAgatha weaken later in the night and that it dissipates over southeastern Mexico in the last hours of Tuesday,” the same source added.
“It is a threat to the state of Oaxaca,” said the local civil protection, which declared the yellow alert.
Agatha made landfall around 5 p.m., Montreal time, on the coast of the state of Oaxaca, which attracts many surfers. Some 5,240 tourists have been identified in the risk zone, between the resorts of Puerto Escondido and Huatulco, according to local authorities. The Oaxaca government says it can house 26,800 people in 203 temporary shelters.
Waves as high as six meters are forecast for Oaxaca and the neighboring states of Guerrero and Chiapas, according to Mexico’s weather service. The hurricane will bring heavy rains to the states of Chiapas and Oaxaca, and the neighboring states of Guerrero and Tabasco, it was reported. “Rainfall could cause landslides, increased river levels and flooding. »
Mexico is hit by tropical cyclones on its Pacific and Atlantic coasts every year, usually between May and November.