USA Today
written by Doyle Rice
Wednesday September 18, 2013
A hurricane season that started slowly has turned deadly in Mexico. A pair of ferocious tropical systems have killed at least 80 people across the country, damaged or destroyed 35,000 homes, and left as many as 40,000 bedraggled tourists stranded in Acapulco.
Meanwhile, a new tropical system forecast for the Gulf of Mexico will not only threaten storm-battered Mexico, it could also wallop portions of the U.S. Gulf Coast over the weekend and into early next week.
Mexico suffered body blows from both sides earlier this week: Tropical Storm Manuel hit the west coast, Tropical Storm Ingrid the east coast. The government called the results the worst weather crisis since 1958, when it was also hit by two storms on separate coasts.
Roads from Acapulco to Mexico City were closed, leaving thousands of tourists struggling to get home.
Now the National Hurricane Center is giving a "poorly organized" area of showers and thunderstorms located just to the west of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula an 80% chance of developing into Tropical Storm Jerry.
Heavy rain from the system is likely to drench part of northeastern Mexico and the Texas coast by the weekend, AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said. Flash floods are possible along the Texas coast, along with rough surf and strong rip currents, he adds.
In eastern Mexico, rain from the storm "could cause life-threatening floods and mudslides over areas already impacted by torrential rains," the hurricane center said.
Manuel strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane Wednesday night with 75 mph winds and is forecast to blast Mexico's west coast again today.
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