MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – As the slow-moving Tropical Storm John crawled along Mexico’s Pacific coast on Friday, its four days of accumulated rain over the home state of major beach resort Acapulco now far exceeds the downpour from last year’s devastating Hurricane Otis.
Alejandra Mendez, the head of Mexico’s national meteorological service, told reporters on Friday that more than 37 inches of rain (95 centimeters) have fallen over southern Guerrero state, home to Acapulco, as a result of John since Monday.
Last year’s Hurricane Otis, which claimed more than 50 lives and caused some $15 billion in damages, featured accumulated rainfall of less than 14 inches (35 centimeters) over Guerrero, noted Mendez.
Otis gained steam rapidly as it bore down on Acapulco, packing Category 5 strength winds, while John has moved much slower as it has oscillated between tropical storm and hurricane status while saturating a wide stretch of Mexico’s southwestern coast.
So far, officials pin the blame on John for five deaths, all in Guerrero and most in the state’s mountainous interior inland from Acapulco susceptible to landslides.
As it hugs the coastline, the storm threatens what the U.S. National Hurricane Center describes as “catastrophic flash flooding and mudslides,” it said in an advisory on Monday morning.
John is currently located 55 miles (89 km) west of the major cargo port of Lazaro Cardenas, north of Guerrero in Michoacan state, and churning toward the northwest at a speed of just 3 miles per hour (5 kph), according to the Miami-based forecaster.
(Reporting by Diego Ore and David Alire Garcia; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
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