Huge waves due to the Mar de Fondo phenomenon have caused at
least three deaths and major damage to hundreds of homes and businesses along the
Pacific coastline of Mexico. The massive swell, which is thought to be as a
result of a storm off New Zealand, resulted in alerts being issued from Jalisco
to Chiapas and cautions in BCS.
The worst hit was the state of Guerrero, where waves as high
as 10 meters were reported, damaging 535 homes and over 200 commercial
structures in the Costa Grande and Costa Chica regions, according to
information from Civil Protection officials.
In Acapulco two people disobeyed warning calls and went for
a swim: one died and the second was injured. In a separate incident, a tourist
was dragged away by strong currents and is still missing.
In Michoacán, a search is under way for a woman who was
dragged under by a wave while walking on a beach in Caleta de Campos. A
companion was rescued after being swept on to some rocks, but the woman
disappeared.
A search is under way off Violin Beach in Huatulco, on the
coast of Oaxaca, for a young man who went fishing in spite of warnings by
authorities in the area that people stay out of the water. A general alert was
issued for at least 70 Oaxaca municipalities where groundswell waves have
reached heights of up to 10 meters.
Current forecasts predict continuing groundswell conditions
in the next 36 hours, with waves of three to four meters expected to affect
much of the Pacific coast.
Caution is urged around the beaches of Los Cabos during this
period.