Mexico Experiences Catastrophic Flooding Due to Powerful Early-Year Hurricane Erick
Unleashing Fury: Hurricane Erick's Ferocious Landfall in Mexico
Hurricane Erick mercilessly barraged Mexico's Oaxaca state as a formidable Category 3 storm early Thursday, bringing torrential winds and rain to the coastline, resulting in deadly flooding.
The hurricane made landfall around 6 a.m. CDT Thursday, roughly 20 miles east of Punta Maldonado, Mexico, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). With winds roaring around its center at 125 mph upon landfall, Erick unleashed devastation.
Erick, just 100 miles east of Acapulco, shadowed the city that had already been ravaged by Hurricane Otis in October 2023. The storm's heavy rain created cascading rivers in Oaxaca and neighboring Guerrero on Thursday, tragically causing at least one death in San Marcos. A heartbreaking incident occurred when a 1-year-old boy drowned after his mother attempted to carry him across a swollen river.
An additional storm-related fatality was reported in San Pedro Pochutla, Oaxaca, as a man was electrocuted, according to local authorities.
Remarkably, Hurricane Erick marked the first major hurricane – Category 3 or higher – to strike Mexico prior to July. The hurricane had peaked as a tempestuous Category 4 storm with 145 mph winds just off the coast early Thursday morning. In a frightening display of intensification, Hurricane Erick underwent rapid and extreme strengthening from Tuesday night into Wednesday night, transforming from a tropical storm into a Category 4 hurricane in a mere 24 hours. This rapid intensification has become increasingly common in a world grown warmer due to fossil fuel pollution.
Having traversed Mexico's rugged mountains, Hurricane Erick quickly deteriorated and dissipated Thursday night, dropping precipitation throughout the region. Although it broke apart, its stray moisture will continue to fuel rain through Friday.
The East Pacific hurricane season has been surprisingly active since its inception in mid-May. Erick was the fifth named storm of the season – storms earn names when they reach tropical depression-strength – and the second hurricane. The basin doesn’t typically witness its second hurricane until mid-July, according to the NHC.
Conversely, the Atlantic hurricane season is now underway, but has yet to spawn its first named storm, and there's little prospect for one over the coming days.
Braving the Storm: Acapulco's Struggle
Acapulco and its coastal neighbors were subjected to heavy rain and wind, with damage assessments still pending. In response, President Claudia Sheinbaum commended the resilience of the people. Earlier, Mexico's National Civil Defense Coordinator Laura Velázquez warned about the torrential rains forecasted for Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Chiapas states, highlighting the risk of mudslides and flooding in the mountainous region along the coast.
Nearly 16 inches of rain were expected to fall in some portions of Guerrero's mountainous terrain through Friday, posing a significant risk of life-threatening flooding or mudslides. Up to 8 inches of rain was possible for coastal areas of Oaxaca and Guerrero, with Acapulco likely to record up to 6 inches of rain from Erick.
In anticipation of the approaching hurricane, all activities in the region's path were halted, and Acapulco's port was closed Tuesday evening. The state governor of Guerrero, Evelyn Salgado, suspended all transportation in Acapulco and other beach communities at 8 p.m. Wednesday, with schools remaining closed through Thursday.
Ahead of the hurricane, Salgado announced that 582 shelters were set to accommodate those evacuating their homes across Guerrero. On the streets of Acapulco Wednesday, there was a noticeable presence of National Guard and police, with crews from the national power company diligently clearing drainage canals and brush.
With the memory of Hurricane Otis still fresh in their minds, some residents felt a sense of panic as they prepared for Erick. Carlos Ozuna Romero, a 51-year-old restaurant owner who lost his business at the edge of an Acapulco beach during Otis, directed his workers to store furniture and equipment.
"The authorities' warnings fill us with fear and raise memories of everything we have already experienced," Ozuna Romero shared, looking back on Otis' devastation.
Our meteorologist, Monica Garrett, and journalist, Ivonne Valdés, contributed to this report.
Hurricane Rapid Intensification: A Growing Concern
Rapid intensification, defined as a 30 knot (35 mph) increase in wind speed over a 24-hour period, has occurred more frequently in recent decades, notably in the Atlantic. From 1980 to 2024, there were 186 landfalling Atlantic tropical cyclones that rapidly intensified, intensifying primarily due to warmer ocean temperatures resulting from climate change. However, it remains unclear whether human-induced climate change has significantly increased the frequency or intensity of hurricanes over the past century.
Hurricane Erick's rapid intensification serves as a stark reminder of this trend, strengthening into a Category 4 hurricane in a matter of hours, emphasizing the implications of climate change in the rapid intensification of storms. While Erick's speedy intensification aligns with the trend of increasingly intense storms attributed to warmer ocean temperatures, definitive proof of climate change's impact on such events requires further examination.
As global temperatures continue to rise, the ensuing impact on hurricanes becomes a serious concern, with increasing flooding and destructive storm surges posing severe threats to coastal communities and ecosystems worldwide.
Weather forecasting platforms should be closely monitoring the Eastern Pacific hurricane season as Hurricane Erick's rapid intensification could be a sign of a new trend in weather patterns. The meteorological community must continue to study the growing concern of Hurricane Rapid Intensification, especially considering Erick's transformation from a tropical storm into a Category 4 hurricane in just 24 hours.
