Hurricane Simon and Tropical Storm Rachel Kill Five Along Mexico’s Pacific Coast as Baja California Flooding Damages Infrastructure)
Five people have died in Mexico after Hurricane Simon and the remains of Tropical Storm Rachel brought heavy rain, floods and landslides to the country’s Pacific side, and more rain is still on the way. Four of the deaths came from Rachel’s flooding in Baja California, and a fifth was caused by Simon in the southern state of Guerrero. Authorities said on Monday that rescuers were still looking for several missing people, while forecasters warned that Simon could threaten the west-central coast again later this week
The worst of the loss of life so far was in and around Ensenada, a coastal city in northern Baja California. Rachel, which peaked earlier in October as a Category 3 storm, came ashore in the state as a post-tropical cyclone. A 13-year-old girl was found dead there on Sunday. Two women and a 4-year-old boy were recovered on Monday, according to Baja California’s civil protection coordinator, Ignacio Lozoya. He said six people remained missing, four in Ensenada and a father and son from San Felipe who went fishing on Saturday and never returned. Earlier reports had put the number of missing higher, a reminder that the counts are still moving.
One resident told the Associated Press that the flooding began overnight, shortly after heavy rain cut the power. She said she heard a roar like crashing waves, stepped outside and found a nearby stream had overflowed, pushing water through streets and homes and carrying away vehicles. Landslides and swollen rivers also isolated several communities elsewhere in the state. On Monday afternoon the Mexican military used helicopters to lift 32 people, including 22 foreigners, from a ranch in Ensenada. Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila said 13 of them were young people, and state security officials said some of the group were missionaries, among them Germans and Americans. About 14,000 federal and state personnel have been deployed across Baja California to help residents.
Farther south, Simon did its damage without ever coming ashore. The storm reached Category 4 over the weekend, with winds of about 150 mph, and then weakened to a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph, according to the US National Hurricane Center. Its eye stayed offshore, but outer bands battered the stretch of coast between the Sierra Madre and the Pacific near Puerto Vallarta. In Guerrero, Governor Evelyn Salgado said Simon knocked down trees and power poles, blocked roads and flooded homes in coastal towns, including the port city of Acapulco, which is still rebuilding after Hurricane Otis in 2023. Salgado also confirmed the state’s one death, a 71-year-old man who died when a wall collapsed in the capital, Chilpancingo. Federal crews have been working to restore electricity in parts of Acapulco.
Flooding and landslides also hit communities near rivers and streams in Michoacán and Colima. In Jalisco, authorities suspended classes in 22 coastal municipalities ahead of the storm and began moving people out of at-risk areas. Mexican media reported that President Claudia Sheinbaum announced a suspension of non-essential activities in four states, though local details varied by report.
For businesses, the infrastructure picture matters as much as the casualty count. Puerto Vallarta’s international airport suspended operations until Tuesday morning, according to the AP, and flights at Manzanillo airport were also halted for a day. Manzanillo is Mexico’s largest Pacific port and sat inside the hurricane warning zone. Airlines including Aeroméxico and Volaris warned of disruption to flights at several Pacific airports, among them Acapulco, Colima, Mazatlán and Tepic. Airports in the area are run by Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico, which published the closure notices for its Puerto Vallarta terminal. Local businesses in Puerto Vallarta boarded up before the storm and reopened as the rain eased on Monday, a pattern that tourism-dependent coastal economies know well. No official damage estimate had been published in the reports reviewed for this article, and it is too early to say how large the bill for roads, power networks and housing will be.
The storms also reached well beyond Mexico. Rachel’s remnants carried moisture north through Southern California. Unusually large waves tore apart a boardwalk and crashed into homes in Long Beach, forcing some residents to leave. Las Vegas tied its October record for daily rainfall, with 1.08 inches by Sunday morning, a mark first set in 1947, according to the National Weather Service. In Utah, dozens of runners and volunteers in the Moab 240 ultramarathon were evacuated after floodwaters stranded them. Flood advisories were mostly lifted across the Southwest by Monday.
The weather itself is part of a larger story. Reports describe this as a record-breaking Pacific hurricane season, with deadly storms from Hawaii to Mexico, and some coverage links the stronger storms to El Niño, which is marked by warmer Pacific water. Warm water tends to give tropical systems more energy to draw on, which is why forecasters pay close attention to ocean temperatures at this time of year. Scientists caution that a single storm cannot be tied to a single cause, but a season with this many strong systems puts steady strain on the same coastal communities, ports and power grids.
Simon is not finished. The National Hurricane Center expects it to remain a hurricane through midweek and warned that heavy rain could trigger dangerous flooding and mudslides along Mexico’s western coast. Forecasters have suggested a possible landfall between Thursday and Friday near Sinaloa, and Mexico’s national civil protection coordinator, Laura Velázquez, said the latest official forecast showed it reaching Mazatlán as a Category 1 hurricane. Rainfall of 5 to 10 inches is possible across west-central Mexico over the next few days, according to the NHC, on top of ground that is already saturated. Landfall timing and strength have shifted from one forecast to the next, so residents and travellers should follow the National Hurricane Center and Mexican civil protection advisories rather than rely on a single projection.
What happens in the coming days will decide how the story is remembered. The first priority is the search for the missing in Ensenada and San Felipe, where families are still waiting for news. The second is whether Simon makes landfall and where, since a Category 1 hurricane hitting a region already soaked by rain can still cause flooding and landslides. The third is the recovery bill, including repairs to roads, lines and homes, and how quickly airports, ports and hotels return to normal. Anyone planning travel to Mexico’s Pacific coast should check airline notices and local advisories before leaving. More coverage of how weather events and economic risk intersect is available at Innovation Times.
