Hurricanes and tropical storms

Hurricane Agatha Breaks Record in Deadly Mexico Landfall

JUN 1 2022·Updated JAN 2 2023

Story

Image credit: Reuters [via Al Jazeera]

The Facts

11 people are reported dead and 20 missing in the aftermath of Hurricane Agatha's landfall in Oaxaca, Mexico. Agatha is now the strongest hurricane on record to make landfall in the month of May during the Eastern Pacific hurricane season.
CBS News
Agatha came ashore Mon. night as a Category 2 hurricane. Gov. Alejandro Murat said rivers overflowed their banks and swept away people in their homes, while other victims were buried under mud and rocks.
Al Jazeera
The storm's winds reached 105 mph. Residents living in the mountains were hardest hit and now face power outages, damaged roads, and destroyed homes.
BBC News
Forecasters predict life-threatening flash flooding from what's left of the storm, and the state of Oaxaca could see between 10-16 inches of rainfall, with the chance of 20 inches in some isolated areas.
USA Today
The remains of Agatha will next cross into the Atlantic Ocean and may even evolve into Tropical Storm Alex - the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season - and bring a severe weather threat to Florida.
CNN
NOAA is predicting an "above average" Atlantic hurricane season this year - the seventh in a row - with 14 to 21 named storms, 6 to 10 hurricanes and 3 to 6 major hurricanes.
NOAA

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The Spin

Narrative A

This is but the latest tragic result of climate change. As with other similar explosive hurricanes, unusually warm waters - catalyzed by human-caused climate change - fueled the storm's rapid intensification before its deadly landfall. Global warming must be addressed now, or storms like this will only become more frequent.

wapo

Narrative B

It's easy to dismiss any extreme weather event as a consequence of climate change, but in reality they're usually influenced by a myriad of factors. More research is needed before we can establish any direct causal link between the two.

Financial Times