Death toll rises to 6 as Hurricane Simon and Rachel remnants unleash floods in Mexico

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Bluesky
• Share on X
• Copy Link

Five others remained missing in Baja California, including three in Ensenada and a father and son who went fishing Saturday in San Felipe, on the Gulf of California, and never returned.

Motel arson

Man allegedly threatens staff at Surrey motel before starting a fire in lobby that spread: Surrey Police

35m ago

Police incident

Man in apparent drug-induced state crosses into the U.S. from Abbotsford, returns and gets combative

1h ago

Police investigation

Chilliwack RCMP seek tips, info on incident in which a man suffered injuries near a local park

4h ago

About 300 military personnel, police and rescue workers searched along Ensenada’s El Pipila stream Tuesday, while the Mexican Navy continued looking for the missing fishermen, state civil protection authorities said.

Floodwaters swept away vehicles, damaged homes and cut off access to some communities.

Johana Nuriulu, a resident of Ensenada’s Buena Vista community, said the flooding began overnight, shortly after heavy rain knocked out electricity.

“We heard a loud noise that sounded like ocean waves, but very intense,” she said. When she stepped outside, she discovered a nearby stream had overflowed.

“The water was sweeping everything away; it took a cabin … animals, everything.”

Elsewhere near Ensenada, Mexican soldiers used helicopters to rescue 32 people, including 13 minors, from Rancho Genesis, a camp for orphans staffed by missionaries.

The army said 22 of those rescued were foreign nationals. Baja California Security Secretary Gen. Laureano Carrillo said they included Americans and Germans.

Hurricane Simon moves along Pacific coast

Simon was moving parallel to Mexico’s Pacific coast Tuesday, threatening more rainfall in Jalisco, Nayarit and Sinaloa.

The hurricane was centered about 180 kilometers (110 miles) west of Cabo Corrientes, Jalisco, with maximum sustained winds of 150 kph (90 mph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. It was moving west at 4 kph (2 mph).

In southern Guerrero state, Simon’s heavy rains toppled trees and utility poles, blocked roads and flooded homes in coastal communities, including the resort city of Acapulco, Gov. Evelyn Salgado said.

A 71-year-old person died when a wall collapsed in Chilpancingo, the state capital, she said.

Authorities also took preventive measures in the port city of Mazatlan, Sinaloa, ahead of the storm, national Civil Protection Coordinator Laura Velázquez said Monday.

Meanwhile, conditions were improving in the tourist destination of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, where residents began resuming normal activities as the rain subsided.

State authorities ordered schools to reopen Tuesday, while operations at Puerto Vallarta’s airport gradually resumed.

Tuesday, Tropical Storm Trudy formed in the Pacific Ocean and is forecast to become a major hurricane in the next few days, the hurricane center in Miami said. It was about 490 miles (790 km) south-southeast of Acapulco, Mexico, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph).

___

Silva Rey reported from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Associated Press writer Fabiola Sánchez contributed from Mexico City.

___

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Francisco Javier Cruz And Martín Silva Rey, The Associated Press