Latin America, Environment & Basic Needs
Hurricane Simon kills one as flood damage spreads along Mexico’s Pacific coast
Authorities attributed one death in Guerrero to Hurricane Simon as the storm weakened offshore. The latest NHC advisory kept Simon a hurricane and forecast an eventual inland move, while final casualty, damage and landfall details remained unsettled.
October 12: authorities attribute one death to Simon
Mexican authorities reported the first death attributed to Hurricane Simon: a 71-year-old man killed when a wall collapsed in Chilpancingo, Guerrero. EFE's Spanish-language report also listed landslides, fallen trees and utility poles, wall collapses and sinkholes in Guerrero. Reuters independently reported one death in the state. This is Simon's toll; separate deaths and missing-person reports from Tropical Storm Rachel must not be added to it. [11][12]
Colima authorities reported 71 homes and 35 businesses affected, while Reuters described flooded communities in Colima and Jalisco. Those are partial state snapshots, not a national damage total. EFE reported 391 millimeters of rain in Acapulco on October 8, illustrating why flooding and slope failures remained dangerous even where the compact hurricane's center stayed offshore. [11][12]
The latest official track still carried substantial uncertainty
At 21:00 UTC on October 12, the National Hurricane Center placed Simon near 20.2°N, 106.8°W with maximum sustained winds of 85 knots, or about 98 mph, moving west-northwest at 3 knots. The center forecast the hurricane to remain over water through October 15 before moving inland on October 16, but it explicitly noted average track errors near 100 nautical miles on day four. That later advisory superseded earlier same-day Category 2 and near-term landfall descriptions without making an eventual landfall certain. [13][12][11]
Simon remained offshore as flooding reached homes
Hurricane Simon weakened to Category 3 late on October 11 while its eye remained over the Pacific. Reuters placed the center about 110 miles west-northwest of Manzanillo at 00:00 UTC on October 12, with sustained winds near 125 mph. A later Associated Press snapshot put the center about 45 miles south of Cabo Corrientes with winds near 115 mph. The positions and wind speeds are successive observations rather than conflicting measurements. [8][1]
El País México reported in Spanish that a course change kept the center offshore and avoided a direct strike on Puerto Vallarta by its cutoff. Reuters nevertheless documented flooded streets and homes in Manzanillo, where soldiers helped families remove water. The reviewed reporting did not establish a final casualty or damage total, and forecasts still left Simon's later track uncertain. [9][8][1]
Earlier advisories showed why water remained the central danger
AP, citing the National Hurricane Center, reported forecasts of 10 to 20 inches of rain, with isolated totals up to 30 inches in Michoacán, Colima and Jalisco. Authorities warned of catastrophic flash flooding and landslides. Hurricane-force winds extended a much smaller distance from the center than the rain threat, so communities outside the eyewall could still face life-threatening water and slope failures. [1][2][5]
Mexico's government suspended nonessential activity in Jalisco, Colima, Michoacán and Nayarit. Jalisco suspended classes in 22 coastal municipalities, and later local reporting said Puerto Vallarta's airport would remain closed until Monday morning. These protective actions affect residents, tourists, workers and people who rely on roads, electricity and health services across the coastal region. [4][1][7]
Shelter transfers rose beyond the early preparedness count
Mexico's Security and Citizen Protection Ministry said on October 9 that Jalisco had evacuated 261 people and opened 13 shelters with space for about 1,900. By October 12, El País México attributed to the Defense Ministry a later count of 263 people moved to six shelters in Colima and 739 people moved to 24 shelters in Jalisco. The combined 1,002 transfers cover those two states and that official cutoff; they are not a final evacuation total. [3][9]
The Mexican Navy's earlier notice said more than 4,000 personnel were assigned under Plan Marina. The later El País report said more than 4,600 Army, Air Force and National Guard personnel had been deployed. The figures describe differently scoped forces and should not be added together; deployment capacity also does not prove that every flooded or isolated community has received assistance. [6][9]
How the sources compare
| Source | What it adds | Scope or limitation |
|---|---|---|
| EFE · Spanish, Reuters · English, and NHC · English, October 12 | The first death attributed to Simon, partial Guerrero and Colima impact figures, observed flooding and the newest offshore intensity and track. | State damage counts are incomplete, Rachel’s casualties are separate, and the NHC emphasizes large multi-day track errors. |
| Reuters · English | The late October 11 storm position and observed flooding of streets and homes in Manzanillo. | Its report preceded a complete damage survey and could not settle Simon's later track. |
| National Hurricane Center and Associated Press · English | Successive storm positions, weakening intensity, rainfall totals and continuing flood and landslide risks. | Forecast tracks can change, and the newest snapshot still did not establish a final impact assessment. |
| Mexican federal authorities · Spanish | Primary notices on activity suspensions, shelters, evacuations and federal response deployments. | The figures were issued at different times and describe capacity or mobilization rather than final need or outcomes. |
| El País México · Spanish | The offshore course, observed coastal flooding, later shelter-transfer totals and updated federal deployment figure. | The shelter count covers Colima and Jalisco at one cutoff, while the personnel figure has a different scope from the Navy's earlier deployment notice. |
| Al Jazeera English | International reporting on the president's shelter warning and the multi-state emergency. | It overlaps with agency and official material and is used for comparison rather than counted as an independent origin for every forecast figure. |
What remains unclear
Whether and where Simon will make landfall; the October 12 NHC forecast carried substantial multi-day track error.
The final evacuation, shelter-occupancy, casualty and damage totals.
Which roads and communities will be cut off by flooding or landslides.
How quickly power, water, communications, schools and transport can be restored after the storm passes.
Sources & translations
- Associated Press — Powerful Hurricane Simon skirts Mexico's Pacific coast
- U.S. National Hurricane Center — Hurricane Simon public advisory
- Mexico Security and Citizen Protection Ministry — Federal and state governments coordinate prevention and response actions for Hurricane SimonSpanish reviewed in the original and summarized in English; evacuation, shelter and responder figures are labeled as the ministry's October 9 preparedness snapshot.
- Presidency of Mexico — President reports suspension of nonessential activities in four states because of Hurricane SimonSpanish reviewed in the original and summarized in English.
- Mexico National Water Commission — Simon intensifies to a Category 4 hurricaneSpanish reviewed in the original and summarized in English; its intensity and location are treated as a dated snapshot.
- Mexican Navy — Plan Marina remains active for Hurricane SimonSpanish reviewed in the original and summarized in English; personnel and equipment are deployment figures, not proof of completed assistance.
- El País México — Hurricane Simon approaches within 40 kilometers of Jalisco, still Category 4Spanish reviewed in the original and summarized in English; its later position and airport status are kept separate from midday AP/NHC data.
- Reuters — Mexico's Sheinbaum urges coastal residents to remain indoors as Hurricane Simon nears
- El País México — Hurricane Simon floods Jalisco and Colima on its northward pathSpanish reviewed in the original and summarized in English; shelter transfers in Colima and Jalisco, federal personnel and the offshore track are retained as separately scoped, dated figures.
- Al Jazeera English — Mexican president urges residents to shelter as Hurricane Simon approaches
- EFE — Simon leaves one dead in Guerrero and weakens while threatening Mexico’s Pacific coastSpanish reviewed in the original and summarized in English; the single Simon death is kept separate from deaths and missing people attributed to Tropical Storm Rachel.
- Reuters — Hurricane Simon weakens but threatens Mexico with more flooding
- U.S. National Hurricane Center — Hurricane Simon Forecast Advisory Number 22
Updates & corrections
- — Added the first death attributed to Simon, partial Guerrero and Colima damage reports and the 21:00 UTC NHC advisory; Rachel’s casualties remain separate and landfall remains a forecast rather than a completed event.
- — Updated after Simon weakened to Category 3 and remained offshore while flooding reached homes. The report adds the later 1,002-person shelter-transfer count for Colima and Jalisco, keeps differently scoped force deployments separate and leaves the later track unresolved.
- — Initial report preserves successive storm positions and preparedness cutoffs, avoids declaring an unconfirmed landfall and centers the extreme rain, landslide and basic-services risks.