Deadly Hurricane John Pounds Southern Mexico Coast

Hurricane John wreaked havoc on Mexico’s southern coast as it rapidly strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane on September 23.

After triggering warnings of life-threatening floods, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador warned citizens of the possible destruction in a post on platform X, “Seek higher ground, protect yourselves and do not forget that life is the most important thing; material things can be replaced. We are here.’’

Ramping up speed by more than three times, the storm was pacing at 35mph on September 23 and is expected to intensify as the likelihood of damaging winds will increase when and if the speed surpasses 50 knots.

While the storm made landfall southwest of the city of Marquelia in Guerrero state with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph, it will move towards areas across the coast, Mexican States of Chiapas, Oaxaca, and southeast Guerrero. The Storm will likely inundate these areas with rainfall and likely cause significant and possibly catastrophic, life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides.

Rapid intensification of the storm caught the Mexican authorities off guard who then stepped up action to counter the effects of extensive rainfall and warned people to protect themselves against the potentially deadly storm surges by ordering the evacuation of 3000 people, all businesses to shut, suspension of beaches and set up close to 80 shelters to accommodate the flood victims.

Torrential rainfall could pummel Oaxaca coast to southeast Guerrero, causing a life-threatening storm surge,  and producing significant coastal flooding near the landfall location. The grim situation forced Oaxaca’s governor to dispatch 1,000 military and state personnel to address the emergency.

Accu Weather Senior Meteorologist Matt Benz told the Associated Press, “You’re going to feel the impacts of the storm probably for the next couple of weeks to a couple of months.”

Storm hovering over the coastal region is only bleak news for Oaxaca which suffered with Otis last year, a similar rapidly intensifying hurricane which killed 46 people. Since then, authorities have pledged to respond sooner after the government received harsh criticism for its slow response to Otis.

Scientists say warmer oceans add fuel to the hurricanes and blame the climate crisis being the sole reason behind the fastest-intensifying hurricanes occurring on record.