Mexico's Pacific coast on alert for hurricane

June 20, 2000
Web posted at: 9:04 p.m. EDT (0104 GMT)

A resident in Tabasco state carries furniture from his flooded home on Tuesday as Carlotta's heavy rains worsened existing flooding

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -- Mexico's Pacific Coast braced for torrential rains on Tuesday as Hurricane Carlotta strengthened, but its westward movement was pushing it away from beach resorts and out to sea, weather officials said.

Carlotta was upgraded to a category two hurricane on Tuesday with winds gusting to around 125 mph (205 kph). It was located about 190 miles (290 km) south-southeast of the popular beach town of Ixtapa, said Monica Jimenez Gomez, a meteorologist at Mexico's National Weather Service.

A category two hurricane is capable of blowing down large trees and destroying mobile homes, with flooding near the coast destroying smaller structures. Jimenez said Carlotta could be upgraded to category three on Wednesday with winds up to 130 mph (215 kph).

While the storm was slowly heading west, away from Mexico, coastal states were on alert for flooding and heavy rain.

"There's the potential for heavy rains in Chiapas, Oaxaca, Guerrero, Michoacan and Colima," Jimenez said.

Ports in Acapulco and Zihuatanejo -- both in Guerrero state -- were closed to shipping, while five others along the coast were shut for small craft, the Transport Ministry said.

Mexico's coast has been battered in recent years by storms from the Pacific and Caribbean sides. In 1999 the worst flooding in 40 years killed at least 425 people. In 1998 floods in southern Chiapas state killed hundreds.

Hurricane Paulina in 1997 killed an estimated 400 people, mostly in Acapulco.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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