Hurricane Manuel wallowed near Mexico’s Pacific coast, promising to bring new flooding as the nation struggles to clean up after two storms that killed at least 80 people and trapped thousands of tourists in the resort city of Acapulco.
Flooding rains starting last week from Manuel and Hurricane Ingrid have driven 40,000 people from their homes and stranded 40,000 more in Acapulco, on Mexico’s Pacific coast, according to the nation’s interior ministry. Another tropical system may be on its way.
“The last time the country experienced two phenomena of this nature at the same time, one in the Pacific and the other in the Gulf, was in the 1950s,” said Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. New storms “could eventually bring rains once again, very strong and intense. This could practically be a repeat of what we’ve seen in past days, both in the Pacific and in the Gulf.”
Manuel was stationary about 15 miles (25 kilometers) northwest of Altata, Mexico, with hurricane-force winds of 75 mph extending outward 15 miles from its core and tropical storm-force winds reaching out 60 miles. It is expected to move “a small distance inland” today and weaken, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in an advisory at 8 a.m. New York time.
[h=2]Alerts Posted[/h]A hurricane warning was posted for Mexico’s western coast from La Cruz to Topolobampo with a tropical storm watch in effect from the north of Topolobampo to Huatabampito.
“Because it’s moving so slow, it’s going to continue to generate heavy rainfall,” said Dan Kottlowski, a meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania. The center said 12 inches (25 centimeters) of rain may fall in the state of Sinaloa, with 20 inches possible in some areas.
Over the weekend, Manuel struck Mexico’s Pacific coast, driving heavy rains into the mountains, while at the same time Hurricane Ingrid pushed in from the Bay of Campeche. As much as 15 inches of rain were reported in some areas near the eastern coast, Kottlowski said.
[h=2]Heavy Rain[/h]More rain certainly fell in the mountains, although exact measurements have been hard to come by because many locations were cut off, he said.
Ingrid broke apart in central Mexico, while Manuel degenerated in the Pacific only to be reborn yesterday at the mouth of the Gulf of California.
Grupo Aeromexico SAB and Interjet said yesterday they’ll fly all stranded Acapulco tourists for free to Mexico City as airport conditions improve.
“Surely, due to the effects of the rainfall, which will continue, we’ll have more victims in shelters in order to protect their lives,” Interior Minister Miguel Osorio Chong said. “The president has ordered to continue with all resources necessary to supply food in all states where there are victims.”
A low-pressure area in the Gulf of Mexico has an 80 percent chance of becoming a tropical system in the next five days, according to the hurricane center.
“This disturbance will likely spread heavy rains over portions of eastern and southern Mexico and could cause life-threatening floods and mudslides over areas already impacted by torrential rains during the past several days,” the center said.
Storm Jerry?
The system will probably become Tropical Storm Jerry soon, said Jared Smith, a meteorologist with MDA Weather Services in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
“It does seem likely that we will see something develop on this,” he said. “The biggest question mark is what exactly happens at the end of the week.”
Kottlowski said the system might be picked up by a cold front coming across Texas and pushed further north into the Gulf for a possible landfall somewhere between Louisiana and Florida. There is also a chance it will go west into Mexico, he said.
The Gulf is home to about 23 percent of U.S. crude production, 5.6 percent of gas output, and more than 45 percent of petroleum refining capacity, according to data from the Energy Department. The southern end of the Gulf, the Bay of Campeche, is where Petroleos Mexicanos, Mexico’s state-owned oil company known as Pemex, has its two largest oil fields, which produce about 1.25 million barrels a day.
In the Atlantic, forecasters are also tracking what’s left of Hurricane Humberto, now a tropical depression 1,030 miles west-southwest of the Azores with top sustained winds of 35 mph. It isn’t an immediate threat to land.
A disturbance between Bermuda and the Bahamas has a 20 percent chance of development in the next five days as it moves northeastward, the center said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at [email protected]; Nacha Cattan in Mexico City at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at [email protected]
Flooding rains starting last week from Manuel and Hurricane Ingrid have driven 40,000 people from their homes and stranded 40,000 more in Acapulco, on Mexico’s Pacific coast, according to the nation’s interior ministry. Another tropical system may be on its way.
“The last time the country experienced two phenomena of this nature at the same time, one in the Pacific and the other in the Gulf, was in the 1950s,” said Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. New storms “could eventually bring rains once again, very strong and intense. This could practically be a repeat of what we’ve seen in past days, both in the Pacific and in the Gulf.”
Manuel was stationary about 15 miles (25 kilometers) northwest of Altata, Mexico, with hurricane-force winds of 75 mph extending outward 15 miles from its core and tropical storm-force winds reaching out 60 miles. It is expected to move “a small distance inland” today and weaken, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in an advisory at 8 a.m. New York time.
[h=2]Alerts Posted[/h]A hurricane warning was posted for Mexico’s western coast from La Cruz to Topolobampo with a tropical storm watch in effect from the north of Topolobampo to Huatabampito.
“Because it’s moving so slow, it’s going to continue to generate heavy rainfall,” said Dan Kottlowski, a meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania. The center said 12 inches (25 centimeters) of rain may fall in the state of Sinaloa, with 20 inches possible in some areas.
Over the weekend, Manuel struck Mexico’s Pacific coast, driving heavy rains into the mountains, while at the same time Hurricane Ingrid pushed in from the Bay of Campeche. As much as 15 inches of rain were reported in some areas near the eastern coast, Kottlowski said.
[h=2]Heavy Rain[/h]More rain certainly fell in the mountains, although exact measurements have been hard to come by because many locations were cut off, he said.
Ingrid broke apart in central Mexico, while Manuel degenerated in the Pacific only to be reborn yesterday at the mouth of the Gulf of California.
Grupo Aeromexico SAB and Interjet said yesterday they’ll fly all stranded Acapulco tourists for free to Mexico City as airport conditions improve.
“Surely, due to the effects of the rainfall, which will continue, we’ll have more victims in shelters in order to protect their lives,” Interior Minister Miguel Osorio Chong said. “The president has ordered to continue with all resources necessary to supply food in all states where there are victims.”
A low-pressure area in the Gulf of Mexico has an 80 percent chance of becoming a tropical system in the next five days, according to the hurricane center.
“This disturbance will likely spread heavy rains over portions of eastern and southern Mexico and could cause life-threatening floods and mudslides over areas already impacted by torrential rains during the past several days,” the center said.
Storm Jerry?
The system will probably become Tropical Storm Jerry soon, said Jared Smith, a meteorologist with MDA Weather Services in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
“It does seem likely that we will see something develop on this,” he said. “The biggest question mark is what exactly happens at the end of the week.”
Kottlowski said the system might be picked up by a cold front coming across Texas and pushed further north into the Gulf for a possible landfall somewhere between Louisiana and Florida. There is also a chance it will go west into Mexico, he said.
The Gulf is home to about 23 percent of U.S. crude production, 5.6 percent of gas output, and more than 45 percent of petroleum refining capacity, according to data from the Energy Department. The southern end of the Gulf, the Bay of Campeche, is where Petroleos Mexicanos, Mexico’s state-owned oil company known as Pemex, has its two largest oil fields, which produce about 1.25 million barrels a day.
In the Atlantic, forecasters are also tracking what’s left of Hurricane Humberto, now a tropical depression 1,030 miles west-southwest of the Azores with top sustained winds of 35 mph. It isn’t an immediate threat to land.
A disturbance between Bermuda and the Bahamas has a 20 percent chance of development in the next five days as it moves northeastward, the center said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at [email protected]; Nacha Cattan in Mexico City at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at [email protected]