The first hurricane of the season formed off Mexico’s southern Pacific coast on Sunday and was growing more powerful ahead of an expected strike along a stretch of tourist beaches and fishing towns.
Hurricane Agatha could make landfall on Monday in the area near Puerto Escondido and Puerto Angel in the southern state of Oaxaca — a region that includes the laid-back tourist resorts of Huatulco, Mazunte and Zipolite.
On Sunday morning, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said the center of Agatha was located about 322 kilometers west-southwest of Puerto Angel, with winds of 137 kph.
It was heading to the north-northwest at 3 kph and forecast to be near major hurricane status before making landfall. A hurricane warning was in effect between the port of Salina Cruz and the Lagunas de Chacahua.
The civil defense office in Oaxaca said the hurricane’s outer bands were already hitting the coast. The office published photos of fishermen hauling their boats up on beaches to protect them from the storm.
The government's Mexican Turtle Center — a former slaughterhouse turned conservation center in Mazunte — announced it was closed to visitors until further notice because of the hurricane.
The Hurricane Center warned of dangerous coastal flooding, as well as large and destructive waves near where Agatha makes landfall and destructive waves.
The storm was expected to bring 25 to 41 centimeters of rain to parts of Oaxaca state — with isolated maximums of 51 centimeters — posing the threat of flash flooding and mudslides.
Because the storm’s current path would carry it over the narrow waist of Mexico’s isthmus, the center said there was a chance the remnants could reemerge over the Gulf of Mexico.
In northern Guatemala, a woman and her six children died Saturday when a landslide engulfed their home, but the accident did not appear to be related to Agatha.
