Hurricane Agatha Drenches Mexican Beach Resorts

This satellite image made available by NOAA shows Hurricane Agatha, center, off the Pacific coast of Mexico on Sunday, May 29, 2022, at 11:20 a.m. EDT. (NOAA via AP)
This satellite image made available by NOAA shows Hurricane Agatha, center, off the Pacific coast of Mexico on Sunday, May 29, 2022, at 11:20 a.m. EDT. (NOAA via AP)
TT

Hurricane Agatha Drenches Mexican Beach Resorts

This satellite image made available by NOAA shows Hurricane Agatha, center, off the Pacific coast of Mexico on Sunday, May 29, 2022, at 11:20 a.m. EDT. (NOAA via AP)
This satellite image made available by NOAA shows Hurricane Agatha, center, off the Pacific coast of Mexico on Sunday, May 29, 2022, at 11:20 a.m. EDT. (NOAA via AP)

Hurricane Agatha, the first of the season, lashed a string of beach resorts on Mexico's Pacific coast as it barreled ashore Monday, bringing strong winds, heavy rain and flood warnings.

Agatha was the strongest storm to make landfall along Mexico's Pacific coast in May since record keeping began in 1949, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

The storm had maximum sustained winds of 110 kilometers (68 miles) per hour and was moving at 13 kilometers an hour, AFP said.

It made landfall near Puerto Angel in the southern state of Oaxaca as a Category Two hurricane -- the second lowest on a scale of five -- but later weakened to a Category One storm.

"Further weakening is expected, and Agatha is forecast to dissipate over Mexico by Tuesday afternoon," the NHC said.

Small landslides were reported in parts of Oaxaca, civil protection coordinator Oscar Valencia told the Milenio Television channel.

Residents along the coast had stocked up on food and water and boarded up windows of homes and businesses as Agatha approached.

Seaports in the area closed and airlines canceled flights.

Authorities opened around 200 storm shelters with room for up to 26,800 people, while hotels provided refuge to the estimated 5,200 national and foreign tourists in the danger zone.

"We are already on red alert. This is coming and it is coming strong," Roberto Castillo, a civil protection official in Huatulco, told AFP as the storm neared.

A hurricane warning was issued for a stretch of coastline including Puerto Escondido and other surf towns popular with Mexican and foreign tourists, leaving normally busy beaches deserted.

"Storm surge is expected to produce extremely dangerous coastal flooding" and will be accompanied by "large and destructive waves," the NHC said.

"Agatha will produce heavy rains over portions of southern Mexico through Tuesday night," as well as "life-threatening surf and rip current conditions."

In Oaxaca and neighboring Chiapas state, "life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides may occur," the NHC added.

The region is home to several major rivers and Mexico's meteorological service warned of possible overflows and landslides.

Mexico is regularly lashed by tropical storms on both its Pacific and Atlantic coasts, generally between the months of May and November.

The deadliest storm to hit Mexico last year was a Category Three hurricane called Grace that killed 11 people in the eastern states of Veracruz and Puebla in August.



Pope Had a Peaceful Night After Pneumonia Diagnosis, Vatican Says

People walk outside the Gemelli Hospital, where Pope Francis is admitted to continue treatment for a respiratory tract infection, in Rome, Italy, February 18, 2025. (Reuters)
People walk outside the Gemelli Hospital, where Pope Francis is admitted to continue treatment for a respiratory tract infection, in Rome, Italy, February 18, 2025. (Reuters)
TT

Pope Had a Peaceful Night After Pneumonia Diagnosis, Vatican Says

People walk outside the Gemelli Hospital, where Pope Francis is admitted to continue treatment for a respiratory tract infection, in Rome, Italy, February 18, 2025. (Reuters)
People walk outside the Gemelli Hospital, where Pope Francis is admitted to continue treatment for a respiratory tract infection, in Rome, Italy, February 18, 2025. (Reuters)

Pope Francis spent a peaceful fifth night in hospital and ate breakfast on Wednesday, the Vatican said in its latest update on the pontiff's fragile health.

Francis has the onset of double pneumonia, the Vatican said on Tuesday, complicating treatment for the 88-year-old pope who was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on February 14.

Double pneumonia is a serious infection that can inflame and scar both lungs and makes breathing more difficult.

The Vatican had said previously that the pope had a polymicrobial infection, which occurs when two or more micro-organisms are involved, adding that he would stay in hospital as long as necessary to tackle a "complex clinical situation".

The pope has been plagued by ill health in recent years, including regular bouts of flu, sciatica nerve pain and an abdominal hernia that required surgery in 2023. As a young adult he developed pleurisy and had part of one lung removed.

All the pope's public engagements have been cancelled through Sunday and he has no further official events on the Vatican's published calendar.