Death toll rises to 6 as Hurricane Simon and Rachel remnants unleash
floods in Mexico
[October 14, 2026]
By FRANCISCO JAVIER CRUZ and MARTÍN SILVA REY
ENSENADA, Mexico (AP) — The death toll from Hurricane Simon and the
remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel rose to six Tuesday after heavy rains
triggered flooding and landslides along Mexico’s Pacific coast,
authorities said.
Simon was a Category 1 storm before strengthening Tuesday night and was
nearly a major hurricane again, according to the U.S. National Hurricane
Center in Miami. Off Mexico’s Pacific coast, Simon was bringing heavy
rain to Nayarit and Sinaloa states, where authorities remained on alert
for rising rivers and flooding. Over the weekend, the hurricane brought
heavy rain to the southern state of Guerrero, killing one person.
But the worst damage was reported farther north, in the coastal city of
Ensenada, Baja California, where flooding caused by Rachel’s remnants
killed at least five people.
The victims included a 13-year-old girl whose body was found Sunday, two
women ages 30 and 35 and a 4-year-old boy whose bodies were recovered
Monday, and an unidentified person found near a stream Tuesday, the
state prosecutor’s office told The Associated Press.
Five others remained missing in Baja California, including three in
Ensenada and a father and son who went fishing Saturday in San Felipe,
on the Gulf of California, and never returned.
About 300 military personnel, police and rescue workers searched along
Ensenada’s El Pipila stream Tuesday, while the Mexican Navy continued
looking for the missing fishermen, state civil protection authorities
said.
Floodwaters swept away vehicles, damaged homes and cut off access to
some communities.
Johana Nuriulu, a resident of Ensenada’s Buena Vista community, said the
flooding began overnight, shortly after heavy rain knocked out
electricity.
“We heard a loud noise that sounded like ocean waves, but very intense,”
she said. When she stepped outside, she discovered a nearby stream had
overflowed.
“The water was sweeping everything away; it took a cabin ... animals,
everything.”
Elsewhere near Ensenada, Mexican soldiers used helicopters to rescue 32
people, including 13 minors, from Rancho Genesis, a camp for orphans
staffed by missionaries.
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The army said 22 of those rescued were foreign nationals. Baja
California Security Secretary Gen. Laureano Carrillo said they
included Americans and Germans.
Hurricane Simon moves along Pacific coast
Simon was moving parallel to Mexico’s Pacific coast Tuesday,
threatening more rainfall in Jalisco, Nayarit and Sinaloa.
The hurricane was about 125 miles (200 kilometers) west of Cabo
Corrientes, Jalisco, with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (175
kph), according to the hurricane center. The storm may strengthen
overnight, but forecasts show gradual weakening Wednesday.
In southern Guerrero state, Simon’s heavy rains toppled trees and
utility poles, blocked roads and flooded homes in coastal
communities, including the resort city of Acapulco, Gov. Evelyn
Salgado said.
A 71-year-old person died when a wall collapsed in Chilpancingo, the
state capital, she said.
Authorities also took preventive measures in the port city of
Mazatlan, Sinaloa, ahead of the storm, national Civil Protection
Coordinator Laura Velázquez said Monday.
Meanwhile, conditions were improving in the tourist destination of
Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, where residents began resuming normal
activities as the rain subsided.
State authorities ordered schools to reopen Tuesday, while
operations at Puerto Vallarta’s airport gradually resumed.
Tropical Storm Trudy was forecast to rapidly intensify into a
hurricane Wednesday and a major hurricane by Friday in the Pacific
Ocean, the hurricane center in Miami said Tuesday night. The storm
was about 440 miles (705 km) south-southeast of Acapulco, Mexico,
with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph).
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Silva Rey reported from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Associated Press
writer Fabiola Sánchez contributed from Mexico City.
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