Missing teen found dead after Beatriz slams Mexico's Pacific coast

Missing teen found dead after Beatriz slams Mexico's Pacific coast

2011-06-22 18:16:36 GMT+7 (ICT)

MIAMI (BNO NEWS) -- The death toll from Hurricane Beatriz's impact on the Pacific coast of Mexico has risen to four after police found the body of a missing teenager, authorities confirmed on Wednesday.

Beatriz moved along the coast of Mexico on Tuesday as a category one hurricane, causing heavy rains and strong winds which resulted in a number of landslides, flooding, and fallen trees. The storm later moved away from the coast without making landfall, and damage was fairly limited.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Ministry of Public Security and Civil Protection in Guerrero state reported that a family of three was killed when they fell into a large septic tank which was located underneath a bathroom. The boards which covered the tank broke as a result of the bad weather, causing 38-year-old Antonia Lopez Salgado to fall in. Her husband, 38-year-old Aquilino Suastegui Onofre, and her son, 16-year-old Suastegui Gustavo Salgado, also drowned when they also fell in while attempting to rescue Antonia.

The death toll as a result of Beatriz rose to four on Wednesday when the ministry confirmed that the body of a 16-year-old boy who was reported missing on Tuesday had been found on the banks of a river in the state. The boy, who was identified as Isla Jorge Lucio, was swept away by strong currents while attempting to cross the river.

Meanwhile, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Beatriz has dissipated over the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Forecasters had earlier downgraded the hurricane to a tropical storm, after which it quickly weakened.

"Apparently, the interaction of Beatriz with the mountainous terrain of Mexico early today has dealt a lethal blow to the tropical cyclone," NHC senior hurricane specialist Richard Pasch said on late Tuesday evening. "An Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) pass from around midday indicated that there was no longer a well-defined surface center of circulation, and that the maximum winds had decreased even faster than earlier estimated."

Locally heavy rains over portions of southwestern Mexico associated with the remnants of Beatriz are expected to gradually diminish throughout Wednesday.

The confirmed fatalities make Beatriz the first deadly storm of the 2011 East Pacific Hurricane Season. It was the second hurricane of the season, following Hurricane Adrian which formed off Acapulco in early June. Adrian rapidly strengthened into a category four hurricane but had no direct impact on land and dissipated on June 12 without causing casualties or damage.

According to figures released in May, NOAA's Climate Prediction Center is expecting a below normal hurricane season in the Eastern Pacific this year. The outlook calls for 9 to 15 named storms, with five to eight becoming hurricanes and one to three expected to become a major hurricane (category 3 or higher).

An average Eastern Pacific hurricane season produces 15 to 16 named storms, with eight to nine becoming hurricanes and four becoming major hurricanes. The Eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15 through November 30, with peak activity from July through September.

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