Mexico storms leave dozens dead and tourists stranded Hurricane Ingrid and tropical storm Manuel result in blocked roads, landslides and 60,000 tourists being stranded in Acapulco

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/17/two-storms-mexico-deaths-tourists-stranded

Mexico storms leave dozens dead and tourists stranded

Hurricane Ingrid and tropical storm Manuel result in blocked roads, landslides and 60,000 tourists being stranded in Acapulco  

• Jo Tuckman, Mexico
• theguardian.com, Tuesday 17 September 2013 12.57 EDTShare

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Rescue workers and inhabitants took part in rescue operations after a landslide in Altotonga, Veracruz. Photograph: EPA

Two storms rolling into Mexico from two opposite fronts have hit the central American country almost simultaneously with catastrophic consequences, leaving dozens dead, roads blocked and rivers flooded across the country, as well as tens of thousands of tourists stranded in the resort city of Acapulco.

With the airport closed and the main roads out of the city blocked by landslides, as many as 60,000 tourists were reportedly stranded in the resort with plans to begin airlifting them from a nearby army base reportedly in formation.

"It has been very difficult, because all means of access have been cut off," emergency services co-ordinator Puente said.

Hurricane Ingrid moved in from the Atlantic to hit central and north-eastern Mexico with significant strength on Monday, at about the same time as tropical storm Manuel drew heavy rains from the Pacific across a broad sweep of states along the west coast.

With both systems weakened, but still active, meteorologists are forecasting more heavy rains with the possibility of more named storms forming in the next few days.

The federal government's head of emergency services, Luis Felipe Puente, reported a death toll of 38 on Tuesday, but this number looks set to rise as the full extent of the destruction becomes clear.

The worst affected state appears to be Guerrero, which has suffered extensive damage in the small towns and villages along its extensive coastline and mountain ranges as well as in its tourist hot spot Acapulco, which has sustained serious floods and landslides.

"When I got home I saw a lot of strangers with picks and shovels digging where my house used to be," Natividad Gallegos, who said she lost her two children and four other members of her family in the storm, told the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, Gulf Coast states are also struggling to managed multiple emergencies caused by hurricane Ingrid, reportedly particularly acute in the state of Veracruz.

State authorities have reported that 12 people died in a single incident in which a landslide smashed into a bus on a road close to the state capital.

Alberto Hernandez, of the national weather centre, told MVS Radio on Tuesday this was the first time that two named storms had hit the country at the same time since 1958. He said Manuel and Ingrid had become exceptionally destructive as they had combined forces to form one large slow-moving new system that has spread across the country.

Hernandez forecast more heavy rain and noted that the remnants of Manuel are regaining strength in the north-west and could develop into a new storm. There is also a new system in the south-east off the coast of the Yucatán peninsula that is also threatening to develop into a named tropical storm on Wednesday as it heads north-west.