Tropical Storm John: 2 dead in Mexico’s southern Pacific coast [Video]

PUERTO ESCONDIDO, Mexico –

Two people are dead after former hurricane John barreled into Mexico’s southern Pacific coast, blowing tin roofs off houses, triggering mudslides and toppling scores of trees, officials said Tuesday.

John grew into a major hurricane in a matter of hours Monday and made landfall about 80 miles (130 kilometres) east of the resort of Acapulco before declining to a tropical storm after moving inland.

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John came ashore near the town of Punta Maldonado late Monday night as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (190 km/h). It weakened back to tropical storm status early Tuesday with maximum sustained wind speeds of 40 mph (65 km/h) and was expected to weaken rapidly.

Evelyn Salgado, the governor of the coastal state of Guerrero, said two people died when the storm sent a mudslide crashing into their house on the remote mountain of Tlacoachistlahuaca (TLAH-ko-chis-tla-waka), further from the coast.

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