Vanessa Buschschlüter & James Chater
BBC News
Southern Mexico began a major clean-up on Thursday in the aftermath of Hurricane Erick, which hit its Pacific coast as a powerful Category 3 storm.
The tourist town of Puerto Escondido in Oaxaca state was left without electricity and phone coverage, after the storm damaged infrastructure, including two hospitals, and flooded streets.
There have been no reports of deaths or injuries. The storm dropped to Category 1 soon after making landfall, although the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said flooding and hurricane-force winds would persist as Erick headed north.
The NHC warned of a potential for “life-threatening” storm surge in the hurricane’s wake and Mexico’s environment ministry also warned of waves of up to 10m (33ft).
Hundreds of troops were called in to help with clean-up efforts in Puerto Escondido, where several buildings had suffered damage and roads were flooded near where the storm made landfall.
The water “had never hit with this magnitude”, 44-year-old merchant Luis Alberto Gil, whose shop was among those flooded, told AFP.
State-owned utility CFE said that more than 120,000 users lost power in Oaxaca, with service restored to a quarter of those affected by late morning.
Gusts in the state reached 125mph (205km/h) an hour before falling to 85mph.
Around 250 miles (400km) north along the Pacific coast, the port and resort city of Acapulco was largely deserted as residents heeded calls to hunker down, with shops boarded up and tourist boats grounded.
Many had stocked up the day before on food, water and gasoline.
Alerts remained in place on Thursday for life-threatening flooding and mudslides in Oaxaca and neighbouring Guerrero, as well as the potential for a life-threatening storm surge on the coast.
However, the NHC said that Erick was to continue its “rapid weakening” and would probably dissipate in the later hours of Thursday.
President Claudia Sheinbaum had urged people to avoid going out and advised those living in low-lying areas or near rivers to move to shelters – some 2,000 of which had been set up in Chiapas, Guerrero and Oaxaca in anticipation.
Southern Mexico was severely battered by Hurricane Otis in 2023. At least 50 people were killed when the Category 5 hurricane battered Acapulco.
Otis intensified rapidly, meaning many people were unprepared when the hurricane made landfall.
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