Climateupdated 2h ago3 min read
Hurricane Simon Kills Albino Moreno Jimenez, Leaves 10 Missing on Mexico’s Pacific Coast
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Two people died and ten remain missing along Guerrero, Baja California, and Sinaloa. Catastrophic flooding and heavy rains damaged Pacific coast communities.
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Simon and Rachel kill
Hurricane Simon and Tropical Storm Rachel battered Mexico’s Pacific coast, leaving at least two people dead and 10 missing, authorities said. Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado confirmed that a 71-year-old man died during Hurricane Simon after a retaining wall collapsed under the weight of intense precipitation, and the man was identified by his family as Albino Moreno Jimenez. Marina del Pilar said a young girl died in Baja California from the effects of what was once Hurricane Rachel, and she said at least 10 more people remained missing in the state.
The National Hurricane Center said Simon had weakened to a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds around 155km/h (100mph), and it said Simon’s center was about 115km west-southwest of Cabo Corrientes as it drifted west at 3km/h. The remnants of Rachel traveled north through southern California in the southwestern United States, and forecasters issued flood watches after the remnants caused severe flooding in Las Vegas over the weekend.
Where the storm hit
In Chilpancingo, Guerrero, Albino Moreno Jimenez was feeding his animals on the western outskirts when a wall came crashing down on him, according to the Guerrero-based news agency IRZA. In Baja California, Marina del Pilar said eight people were reported missing in the city of Ensenada and two were missing in the fishing town of San Felipe, while La Jornada reported a higher death toll of two in Baja California and 11 missing. The Spanish newspaper El Pais reported the death of a cliff diver, Juan Patines, who was killed in Mazatlan, the northwestern state of Sinaloa, after jumping into the sea on Saturday night.
The National Hurricane Center placed Simon’s center about 75 km (50 miles) southwest of Cabo Corrientes and warned that dangerous winds, storm surge and additional rainfall could worsen flooding along the coast. The National Civil Protection Coordination asked residents not to let their guard down in the municipalities of Jalisco, Colima, and Michoacán under alert, and it told people, "Do not return to affected areas until authorities indicate it is safe,".
Pacific season and next steps
El Niño fueled a record Pacific storm season, and the article said 21 named storms had been recorded in the Pacific so far. The article said that on Sunday, Simon tipped the region to a historic high for accumulated cyclone energy (ACE), a metric of the combined strength and longevity of tropical storms, and it said this year had already surpassed the previous high set in 2018. The National Hurricane Center warned that rainfall could produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides or worsen flooding already underway, particularly in steep terrain, and it said a dangerous storm surge was expected along the immediate coast near and east of where Simon’s center approaches land.
“Twenty-one named storms have been recorded in the Pacific so far.”
The Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection reported that 261 people had been evacuated preventively in Jalisco and that 13 temporary shelters with capacity for 1 900 people were available. The National Hurricane Center said Hurricane Warning remained in effect from Playa Pérula to El Roblito and for Las Islas Marías, with a Hurricane Watch north of El Roblito to Bahía Tempehuaya, as air transportation remained disrupted along the affected coast.