Authorities in southern Mexico are assessing damage and watching rising rivers as rain from the remnants of Hurricane Erick douses the region. Torrential rains over steep coastal mountains and the landslides and flooding they could generate became a concern for officials after Erick dissipated following a landfall early Thursday on a sparsely populated stretch of coast. Erick made landfall on southern Mexico's Pacific coast in the morning as a Category 3 major hurricane, but it landed between the resort cities of Acapulco and Puerto Escondido, the AP reports.
Authorities reported landslides, blocked highways, downed power lines, and some flooding as coastal residents, above all in Acapulco, took the storm seriously with memories of the devastating Hurricane Otis in 2023 still fresh in their minds. At least one death was confirmed late Thursday. Guerrero state Civil Defense Director Roberto Arroyo said that a 1-year-old boy had died in San Marcos, an inland community southeast of Acapulco in the path of Erick. The child's mother had tried to cross a swollen river while carrying the child, but he slipped from her arms and drowned.
With a steady rain falling on Acapulco, residents and remaining tourists emerged to walk outside or visit businesses opening gradually as the remnants of Hurricane Erick scraped by just inland of the resort. Forecasters expected up to 16 inches of rain could fall across Oaxaca and Guerrero, with lesser totals in Chiapas, Michoacan, Colima, and Jalisco states. (More hurricane stories.)
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