At least five people have died after Hurricane Simón and Tropical Storm Rachel hit Mexico’s Pacific coast, causing flooding that toppled trees and power poles, blocked roads and inundated homes. Simón claimed the life of a 71-year-old man who died when a wall collapsed in Chilpancingo, in the southern state of Guerrero, Gov. Evelyn Salgado said at a news conference. The storm also damaged infrastructure and homes in the state’s coastal cities, including the main seaport of Acapulco, he said. he said.Tropical Storm Rachel is blamed for the deaths of four members of a family, including two children, whose bodies were found outside the city of Ensenada in Baja California, the state prosecutor’s office said. Five more people remained missing, while security forces used helicopters to rescue 32 people, prosecutors said. Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar said authorities were helping more than 50 people in temporary shelters. Hurricane Simón flooded streets in towns along Mexico’s Pacific coast. Photograph: Christian Ruano/ReutersSimón did not make landfall and, after weakening to category two on the five-point Saffir-Simpson scale, was moving away from the coast, authorities said. A rain warning was in effect. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said heavy rain associated with Simón in west-central Mexico over the next few days could still produce potentially deadly flooding and landslides. Officials warned that waves of up to five meters high were still expected in some coastal areas. Floods and landslides had already affected communities near rivers and streams in the states of Michoacán and Colima. A man walks past a boarded-up business in Puerto Vallarta with the message “Simon, be brief, be peaceful.” Photograph: Christian Ruano/ReutersThe El Niño phenomenon, characterized by rising water temperatures in the Pacific, is fueling more intense hurricanes this season in the region. Meteorologists say the 2026-27 El Niño, which causes global changes in winds and precipitation as well as erratic weather conditions, is certain to be the largest on record. Scientists now also believe that human-caused global warming is making El Niño more intense. With Agence France-Presse and Associated Press
