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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | September 2006 
Hurricane John Leaves Four Dead in Mexico
 AFP
| | Drivers wait to continue their way after a mudslide blocked the road to La Paz following the passage of Hurricane John, 2 September. Hurricane John and the floods it spawned over the weekend killed four people, including an American, and left two people missing, Mexican authorities in Baja California said. (AFP/Luis Acosta) |
La Paz, Mexico - Hurricane John and the floods it spawned over the weekend killed four people, including an American, and left two people missing, Mexican authorities in Baja California said late on Monday.
The storm, which made landfall Saturday as a Category Two hurricane on Baja California's southern tip, was quickly downgraded to a tropical storm. On Tuesday, it was a tropical depression west of the peninsula's mid-point.
South Baja California Secretary General Victor Guluarte said the four deaths, including a local official and an elderly American, were killed by flash floods in the region.
He said another two men, also including an American, were listed as missing.
After slamming into shore with winds speeds in excess of 160km/h, John drenched Baja California in rain, washing out roads and causing yet unquantified damage which one official described as "less than expected."
About 15 000 people, many of them foreigners, were evacuated from threatened areas, including Los Cabos, a favourite destination for US and other international tourists. About 30 000 people took refuge in shelters.
People in 15 towns in the mountainous region state were cut off as flood waters reached up to 1.5m after John's heavy rains caused the Iguagil dam in Comondu to overflow its banks.
By late Monday, sea ports in the region were open for business as were two of the area's three international airports in La Paz and Los Cabos.
Earlier last week, John briefly attained Category 4 strength on the five-level Saffir-Simpson hurricane intensity scale.
It dumped heavy rain and triggered mudslides in Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco and Guerrero states. |
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