Hurricanes Mexico

A Coast Guard cutter from San Diego and other ships and aircraft were trying late Monday to help the stranded crew of a San Pedro-based fishing vessel caught in Hurricane Darby off the Mexican coast, the Coast Guard said. Earlier Monday, the Coast Guard helped rescue another crew caught in the same storm while en route to Newport Beach, said Lt. John Davis of the Coast Guard operations center in Long Beach.

tulum, mexico -- Hurricane Dean became an extremely powerful Category 5 storm as it bore down Monday on the Yucatan peninsula, forcing tens of thousands of residents and tourists to seek shelter along hundreds of miles of coastline. The outer bands of the storm, packing 160-mph winds near its eye, began lashing the coasts of Yucatan and Belize early today. It was forecast to make landfall about 1:30 a.m.

Tropical storm Greg was upgraded to a hurricane Monday night and lashed Mexico's Pacific Coast, killing nine people, officials and news reports said. Six people died in the central state of Morelos, two in the Pacific coastal state of Colima and one in the southern state of Chiapas, Mexico's Televisa evening news reported. Authorities began evacuating hundreds of residents in low-lying areas Monday as Greg's winds strengthened to 75 mph over the Pacific Ocean.

Packing winds up to 135 mph, Hurricane Emily hit Mexico's Yucatan peninsula early today, uprooting trees, knocking out power and phone lines and lashing the area with howling winds and driving rain. Tens of thousands of tourists evacuated their luxury beach hotels and locals took shelter in schools and community centers Sunday night as the hurricane approached.

As Hurricane Calvin diminished in intensity Thursday, efforts to assist storm victims escalated in the Los Angeles area, home to the nation's largest Mexican expatriate community. "People have been calling all day, wondering what they can give," said Hortencia Magana, who heads the social services arm of the Casa del Mexicano, an East Los Angeles civic group that is one of several groups soliciting assistance.

Dave and Lori Dyer were changing planes in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport when they learned that they were headed for the same place that Hurricane Calvin was leaving: Acapulco. "We just laughed," Dyer said Thursday as he watched Mexican workers clear the seaweed, branches and rubbish from the beach outside their hotel here. "We went to St. Croix right after Hugo hit. That's what we do for vacation. We follow hurricanes around."

Hurricane Alma turned back out to sea and was downgraded to a tropical storm after a deadly brush with Mexico's southern coast that killed three people and left hundreds homeless. The season's first Pacific hurricane shredded homes, toppled trees and clogged roads in and near the port city of Lazaro Cardenas, about 220 miles southwest of Mexico City. Poor neighborhoods of cardboard-and-wood homes were devastated, though more solid buildings generally withstood the storm.

Hurricane Lidia smashed houses, knocked out power and phones and forced thousands from their homes, but it claimed only one life when it blew ashore. The storm, which hit coastal fishing and farming villages with gusts of up to 125 m.p.h. before dawn, slowed to a tropical storm as it moved inland, dumping heavy rain over a large swath of northwest Mexico.

Rain and winds lashed Mexico's famed Pacific resorts Tuesday as Hurricane Calvin gained strength and moved up the coast. At least 25 people died in storm-related accidents, the government said. About 11,000 people were forced from their homes by floods, the government news agency Notimex reported. Fifteen rivers overflowed their banks. Nine of the dead were in the southern states of Oaxaca and Guerrero, where flooding forced thousands from their homes along the coast.

The persistent remains of former Hurricane Darby continued to dampen Southern California on Sunday, scattering light showers throughout the area and bringing the promise of more wet weather today and Tuesday. Although the 0.05 of an inch that fell at the Los Angeles Civic Center during the day was hardly a deluge, it set a record for the date, pushing the total for the rainfall season--which began on July 1--to 0.08.

Tropical Storm Larry lost strength Sunday as it moved south across Tabasco state, while attention turned to two hurricanes threatening the Pacific coast. Hurricane Olaf late Sunday was located 110 miles southwest of Manzanillo and was expected to move north, parallel to the coastline. The Mexican government issued a hurricane warning for the Pacific coast as Olaf packed winds of 75 mph.

Tropical storm Greg was upgraded to a hurricane Monday night and lashed Mexico's Pacific Coast, killing nine people, officials and news reports said. Six people died in the central state of Morelos, two in the Pacific coastal state of Colima and one in the southern state of Chiapas, Mexico's Televisa evening news reported. Authorities began evacuating hundreds of residents in low-lying areas Monday as Greg's winds strengthened to 75 mph over the Pacific Ocean.

Authorities evacuated about 3,000 people to shelters Saturday as Mexico's southern Pacific coast braced for heavy rains and flash flooding while Hurricane Lester churned offshore. Public safety officers in Oaxaca asked about 500 families to leave their homes in three townships that could be in the path of the storm, the Civil Protection Secretariat in Oaxaca state reported. Authorities in neighboring Guerrero state also reportedly began evacuations.

In the worst natural disaster to strike Mexico since a 1988 storm, Hurricane Pauline swept through this tourist mecca early Thursday, leaving at least 124 dead in the region--with some estimates twice as high--thousands homeless and untold millions of dollars in damage. Most of the dead were counted in and around Acapulco, a port city usually filled with carefree Mexican and foreign tourists.

Hurricane Alma turned back out to sea and was downgraded to a tropical storm after a deadly brush with Mexico's southern coast that killed three people and left hundreds homeless. The season's first Pacific hurricane shredded homes, toppled trees and clogged roads in and near the port city of Lazaro Cardenas, about 220 miles southwest of Mexico City. Poor neighborhoods of cardboard-and-wood homes were devastated, though more solid buildings generally withstood the storm.

Navy rescue teams and fishermen scoured Mexico's northwestern coast Wednesday in a desperate search for victims and possible survivors of Hurricane Ismael as the death toll rose above 100. Navy officials said they had three helicopters and several boats in the Gulf of California looking for bodies. The Mexican navy was joined by dozens of small boats operated by fishermen hoping to find missing comrades.

Despite the muggy gloom that settled over the Southland on Wednesday, bringing drizzles, dangerous riptides and crashing surf, it was a day from heaven for hundreds of Orange County surfers and body-boarders. "I heard there is supposed to be big waves because of the hurricane," said Bob Guzman, a construction worker for the city of Huntington Beach, who walked into the water about 6:30 a.m. with his surfboard leashed to his ankle. "Any time there is a big swell, you gotta come out."

A hurricane off the southern tip of Baja California is being felt along the Orange County coastline, where waves in some areas reached eight feet Tuesday, and even bigger waves could wash up today, weather forecasters say. The surges delighted surfers at Newport Beach, where the waves doubled in size from four feet to eight feet by Tuesday afternoon, Marine Safety Officer Gordon Reed said.

A hurricane off the southern tip of Baja California is being felt along the Orange County coastline, where waves in some areas reached eight feet Tuesday, and even bigger waves could wash up today, weather forecasters say. The surges delighted surfers at Newport Beach, where the waves doubled in size from four feet to eight feet by Tuesday afternoon, Marine Safety Officer Gordon Reed said.

Hurricane Lidia smashed houses, knocked out power and phones and forced thousands from their homes, but it claimed only one life when it blew ashore. The storm, which hit coastal fishing and farming villages with gusts of up to 125 m.p.h. before dawn, slowed to a tropical storm as it moved inland, dumping heavy rain over a large swath of northwest Mexico.