The roof of a house is damaged in the aftermath of Hurricane Agatha, in San Isidro del Palmar, Oaxaca state, Mexico, May 31, 2022. REUTERS/Jose de Jesus Cortes
MEXICO CITY - The death toll caused by Hurricane Agatha in Mexico has risen to 11, with another 33 missing and heavy rains likely to continue, the governor of the southern state of Oaxaca said on Wednesday.
Agatha made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane on Monday afternoon, touching down with 105 mile-per-hour (169 km per hour) winds near the beach town of Puerto Angel on the Pacific coast, before dissipating on Tuesday as it moved inland.
Oaxaca's governor, Alejandro Murat, said the tallies of dead and missing were preliminary, and urged people to remain alert.
"It's important the entire population remains safe. There's a likelihood of landslides and river flooding," he said, speaking by video link at a regular government news briefing.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Wednesday morning there was an 80% chance that a cyclone would form in the Atlantic from Agatha's remnants in the next 48 hours.
"This system is likely to become a tropical depression while it moves northeastward over the northwestern Caribbean Sea and southeastern Gulf of Mexico during the next couple of days," the Miami-based center said.
