Thirteen dead in Mexico mudslides: authorities
August 27, 2013
The storm named Fernand weakened to a tropical depression after making landfall just before midnight, unleashing a deluge that flooded streets, homes and businesses in some towns and caused rivers to overflow.
Governor Javier Duarte, who had ordered the closure of schools before the storm came ashore, urged residents to heed any calls for evacuations and said the authorities remained on high alert.
Nine people died in the town of Yecuatla, three more in Tuxpan and one in Atzalan, he said.
"They were all caused by mudslides on their homes," Duarte told a news conference. The storm triggered 16 mudslides, while storm-related damage was reported in 22 municipalities, affecting more than 450 homes, said state civil protection director Noemi Guzman Lagunes.
More than 400 people were housed in 10 temporary shelters, she said. Authorities urged people who live near rivers to move to shelters as a precaution.
Duarte said Fernand was "atypical" because of how quickly it morphed into a tropical storm over the Gulf of Mexico late Sunday before making landfall.
As of 1500 GMT, weather forecasters were reporting winds of 55 kilometers (35 miles) per hour.
The tropical depression later moved over the central state of Hidalgo. Although the center of Fernand was no longer in the state, Duarte said the "emergency continues" because "our experience shows us that this type of weather phenomenon makes an impact with the amount of rain that it brings."
The US National Hurricane Center said the storm was expected to dump four to eight inches (10-20 centimeters) of rain on Veracruz.
Fernand is the fifth named storm this year in the Atlantic, where the hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has forecast a more than usually violent season of 13 to 19 named storms, including six to nine hurricanes.
