Thursday, June 5, 2014

Weakened storm Boris still packing heavy rains, mudslide risk

Terra Daily via AFP: Boris, now a tropical depression after losing some of its punch, nevertheless was potent enough to prompt evacuations of thousands of inhabitants Wednesday along Mexico's Pacific coast.

The season's second named storm -- downgraded overnight from a tropical storm -- Boris brought "extraordinarily" heavy rains that led disaster officials to evacuate some 16,000 people.

On his Twitter account, the head of Mexico's National Civil Protection office, Luis Felipe Puente, said Boris so far has caused no loss of life, although it continues to carry the risk of potentially lethal flash floods and mudslides.

Officials from the US National Hurricane Center said that at 1500 GMT, Boris was 80 miles (130 kilometers) east of the town of Salina Cruz, with maximum sustained winds of 30 miles (45 kilometers) per hour.

It was moving north at two miles (four kilometers) per hour, a leisurely pace ensuring it will linger, continuing to dump up to another 10 inches of heavy rain in some areas, including the states of Oaxaca, Chiapas, Veracruz and Tabasco, the Miami-based NHC said....

NASA image of Boris making landfall in Mexico on June 3, 2014

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