Storm Agatha strengthened into a hurricane this Sunday, a day earlier than expected, as it moved toward the southern coast of Mexico, prompting the US National Hurricane Center to warn of "flooding and landslides of anything that could be life-threatening.”
Agatha is the first hurricane of the 2022 hurricane season in the eastern Pacific and
may make landfall on Monday near Puerto Escondido
in the southern state of Oaxaca.
On Sunday morning, the National Hurricane Center said the center of the storm was located about 200 miles (320 kilometers) west-southwest of Puerto Angel, packing 75 mph (120 kph) winds.
It was heading northwest at a speed of 3 mph (6 kph) but was expected to turn more to the north, the center said.
A hurricane warning was also issued for parts of the coast of the southern states of Guerrero and Oaxaca.
“This means that hurricane conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area
within 36 hours
,” the center said, adding that “measures necessary to protect life and property must be completed quickly,” according to a report from NBCNews.
Oaxacan fishermen prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Agatha.
Civil Protection of Oaxaca, Mexico
The civil defense office in Oaxaca said Sunday that the outer bands of the hurricane were already hitting the coast, and published photos of fishermen dragging their boats on the beaches to protect them from the storm.
Landslides and floods
A storm surge is expected to "produce dangerous coastal flooding in areas of onshore winds near and to the east of where the center of Agatha makes landfall," the National Hurricane Center weather advisory said.
The storm could bring winds of up to 90 mph (145 kph) at landfall.
"Near the coast, the surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves," the center said.
Farther inland, “life-threatening flash floods and landslides can occur,” he added.
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The downpours could trigger mudslides, increase the flow of rivers and streams and flood low-lying areas, the Mexican National Water Commission said in a statement.
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As its current course could take Agatha to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, a strait in the country, the center said there was a chance the remnants of the storm could reappear in the Atlantic, over the Gulf of Mexico.
In northern Guatemala, a woman and her six children died Saturday when a landslide buried their home, but the accident did not appear to be related to Agatha.