Hurricane `Agatha` hits southern Mexico with strong winds and heavy rain

Weather of Arabia - Hurricane "Agatha" arrived on the coast of southern Mexico on Monday, bringing heavy rain and winds of 169 kilometers per hour when it made landfall, before weakening its strength and dropping its classification to a tropical storm as it moved inland to the northeast.

All hurricane warnings were suspended, but tropical storm warnings remained in effect from the Puerto Escondido region to Salina Cruz.

Agatha is the first hurricane to hit the eastern Pacific this year, as the tropical state formed off the Mexican coast and was named Saturday, shortly after the official start of the eastern Pacific hurricane season, which runs from May 15 to November 30.

It intensified rapidly in the eastern Pacific Ocean, and as it approached the southern coast of Mexico and entered land, the strength of the winds decreased to about 130 kilometers per hour, and the storm is expected to continue to weaken and fade on Tuesday afternoon, but the remnants of the tropical state “Agatha” are expected to head to the sea The Caribbean has now a 50% chance of gradually developing and increasing its strength over the next five days.

Agatha was the strongest hurricane to make landfall on Mexico's Pacific coast in May since records began in 1949, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center.

Although Mexico's Pacific coast is not as prone to hurricanes as the Caribbean, it has previously been hit by deadly storms. In 1997, Hurricane Pauline hit the coasts of neighboring Oaxaca and Guerrero, killing more than 200 people and leaving about 300,000 people homeless.

More recently, in 2017, Tropical Storm Beatrice wreaked havoc across the state, causing widespread flooding and mudslides, killing at least two people and destroying dozens of homes.