Tropical Storm Nora wreaks havoc in Mexico; 1 killed, several missing

Nora wreaked havoc in Puerta Vallarta and left at least one dead and seven missings, it is now dumping heavy rains along the Gulf of California. After making a brief land passage just inland from the Mazatlan vacation region and then heading back over sea and into the narrow gulf, Nora fell to a Category 1 hurricane at midday Sunday. Forecasters cautioned that the storm's torrential rainfall remained a threat to areas along the Gulf Coast.

The storm battered communities in Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco

Late Sunday, Nora had maximum sustained winds of 65 kph and was moving northwest at 19 kph. Its epicentre was around 155 kilometres southeast of Los Mochis. The storm advanced northward, pounding communities in the coastal states of Michoacan, Colima, and Jalisco with heavy rain and severe surf.

Officials in Jalisco state say a teenager from Spain was killed Saturday night when a hotel collapsed in Puerto Vallarta as Category 1 Hurricane Nora moved through the vacation resort. A woman was also reported missing when her vehicle was washed away. Flooding damaged 500 dwellings, while a landslide injured two individuals. The Mexican navy said it was looking for six fishermen from Guerrero state who had gone missing at sea.

During the storm on Saturday night, two rivers in Puerto Vallarta spilt, flooding a portion of the city centre. A flood ripped a bridge apart and washed away part of a modest four-story boutique hotel where the dead youngster was discovered following an eight-hour search on Sunday. The rest of his family managed to flee before the building collapsed. Gov. Enrique Alfaro of Jalisco revealed that a woman in Puerto Vallarta went missing when rushing floods grabbed her from her vehicle.

Nora, according to the National Hurricane Center in the United States, would continue to drag along the Gulf of Mexico's mainland shore, weakening to a tropical depression by Monday night. The storm's moisture could bring severe rainfall to the US Southwest by midweek. Rainfall totals of 20 to 30 cm are expected along the west coast of Mexico, with even more in some locations, according to the centre.

(Inputs from AP News)

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