Katia adds to Mexico woes
juchitan — One of the most powerful earthquakes ever to hit Mexico was followed by a Gulf coast hurricane, dealing a onetwo punch to the country, killing at least 61 people as workers scrambled to respond to the twin national emergencies.
The 8.1 quake off the southern Pacific coast just before midnight on Thursday toppled hundreds of buildings in several states. “We are all collapsed, our homes and our people,” said Rosa Elba Ortiz Santiago, 43.
Even as she spoke, across the country, Hurricane Katia was roaring onshore north of Tecolutla in Veracruz state, pelting the region with intense rains and winds. —
juchitã¡n de zaragoza, mexico — Police, soldiers and emergency workers raced to rescue survivors from the ruins of Mexico’s most powerful earthquake in a century, which killed at least 61 people, as storm Katia menaced the country’s eastern coast on Saturday with heavy rains.
In the southern region hit hardest by the quake, emergency workers looked for survivors — or bodies — in the rubble of houses, churches and schools that were torn apart in the 8.1-magnitude quake.
President Enrique Pena Nieto said 45 people were killed in Oaxaca state, 12 in Chiapas and four in Tabasco. But the actual death toll could be over 80, according to figures reported by state officials.
Meanwhile storm Katia made landfall in the east as a Category One hurricane and hours later was downgraded to a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 45 miles (70 kilometers) per hour.
The storm was bringing rains likely to cause “life-threatening flash floods and mudslides, especially in areas of mountainous terrain” the US National Hurricane Center said.
Katia was lashing the state of Veracruz, which borders the Gulf of Mexico, as well as parts of Hidalgo and Puebla. Forecasters were predicting the storm could unleash upwards of 25 inches (64 centimeters) of rain in some areas.
In Tecolutla, a coastal town of 8,000 residents, reporters found felled trees and branches as families hunkered down to weather the storm. The government warned that Katia could threaten about one million people and unleash dangerous floods.
Adding to the concerns, authorities warned another massive aftershock could follow within 24 hours of the first quake. Pena Nieto toured the hardest-hit city, Juchitan in Oaxaca, where at least 36 bodies were pulled from the ruins. The city’s eerily quiet streets were a maze of rubble, with roofs, cables, insulation and concrete chunks scattered everywhere. —