(Acapulco) At least 16 people were killed during this week’s hurricane John on the Pacific coasts in southern Mexico, among others in Acapulco and its surroundings, the president and local civil protection said on Sunday.
“Unfortunately, the number of deaths, according to local authorities, is 15 people,” said outgoing President Andres Manuel López Obrador, sharing on X “the latest civil protection report on the floods in Acapulco.”
Another victim was confirmed on Sunday by civil protection in the neighboring state of Oaxaca further south.
Some 18,000 soldiers and rescue workers were deployed to deal with the consequences of the hurricane, and more than 5,000 people were evacuated from risk areas, according to the authorities. Around 3,800 people were welcomed into shelters.
PHOTO FRANCISCO ROBLES, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Cars were covered in sand after the hurricane John in Acapulco, Guerrero State, Mexico, on September 29, 2024.
“The water is going down, even if there is a lot of mud in the streets where the cleaning has started,” detailed the head of state who left power on Tuesday. “The first phase of humanitarian relief from the Army, Navy and National Guard is nearing completion.”
However, “in Michoacán, there was a preventive evacuation of 275 people” due to the overflowing of a dam, the president said.
John had made landfall on September 24 in a hurricane of force 3 on a scale of 5, causing heavy rains in the three states of Guerrero, Oaxaca and Michoacán, which receive many tourists.
In particular, cars were buried and a bridge collapsed.
PHOTO JAVIER VERDIN, REUTERS
The passage of the tropical storm John caused damage in Puerto Marqués, Guerrero State, Mexico, on September 29, 2024.
The new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, who will be inaugurated on Tuesday, will travel on Wednesday with her cabinet to the state of Guerrero where Acapulco is located “to make an assessment” and continue to organize “all the necessary assistance”, he said. -she indicated on her X account on Sunday.
On Sunday, the N+ website of Televisa television put forward a total toll of “22 deaths”.
Hurricanes are common on the Pacific coast and in the Gulf of Mexico from May to October-November.
The hurricane Helene had threatened Cancun on the Mexican Caribbean coast before hitting the southeast of the United States where it left at least 93 dead, according to a provisional report compiled by AFP from statements by local authorities.