Hurricane John made landfall as a Category 3 storm in Marquelia, Guerrero, on Mexico’s southwestern border first on Sept. 24 and again on Sept. 27, killing 29 people and bringing powerful winds, heavy rain, flooding, and landslides, despite receiving limited international media attention.
Hurricane John was a “zombie” storm, a term meteorologists use to describe its double landfall: after the initial devastation on Sept. 24, the storm was repelled by the mountains in Guerrero and it reformed in the ocean, making a second landfall three days later. Hurricane John dropped over 37.4 inches of rain in total and left at least 29 people dead, a significant increase from the predictions of a tropical storm just two days prior by the National Hurricane Center.
The amount of rain was almost as much as the region gets in an average year, according to local news organization Oaxaca Live. The heavy rains triggered 80 landslides leading to two people’s deaths in the municipality of Tlacoachistlahuaca.
The four days of constant rain flooded 19 neighborhoods, leaving 2,000 homes underwater. Mexican officials said that more than 5,000 people had to be evacuated and 3,800 people have been staying in shelters because their houses were destroyed. Over 98,000 people lost power due to the hurricane.
Damage left from Hurricane John could cost around $50.7 million to $76 million to repair.
Alejandro Martínez Sidney, president of the Chamber of Commerce, Services and Tourism, said that losses are estimated to range between 1 and 1.5 billion pesos.
“This represents a devastating blow to our local economy, especially on the eve of the high tourist season,” Sidney said in an interview with MVS Noticias.
The cost of the hurricane adds to last year’s Hurricane Otis, a Category 5 storm the region is still recovering from. Experts estimate that Otis left $12 billion to $16 billion in damages.
Scientists believe the rapid growth of Hurricane John can be attributed to rapid intensification, Which is the increase of the maximum sustained winds of a tropical cycle of at least 35 mph in a 24 -hour period. This process is two times more likely due to rising ocean temperatures as a result of climate change, according to Andra Garner
Garner said that the risk of tropical cyclones was increasing due to climate change, demanding greater research into how intense these storms are now becoming.
“Given the highly-damaging nature of many TCs [tropical cyclones] that intensify rapidly, and the operational and forecasting challenges posed by TCs that intensify most quickly, there is an urgent need to better understand how intensification rates of TCs may already have changed in a warming climate,” Garner said in her study.
How can you help?
World Central Kitchen is working diligently to help victims of Hurricane John in the Oaxaca and Guerrero, Mexico states, supplying food, fresh water, and dry goods. You can learn more about their efforts and how you can get involved here.
Writing for Kids Fight Climate Change: If you are interested in making climate change news more accessible, you should consider joining us! Check out this link: Join the Team | Kids Fight Climate Change: Youth Climate Education
Volunteering at advocacy groups. VolunteerMatch is a great resource to find volunteer opportunities, virtual and in-person. Check out this link: VolunteerMatch
If none of those options apply to you, there are still ways to raise awareness! Simply by sharing articles such as this one, you are doing your part to spread important climate information. That is activism.
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