Nora now tropical storm on Mexico shore; 1 dead, 7 missing

Aug. 29, 2021 Updated Sun., Aug. 29, 2021 at 3:14 p.m.

This image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows severe weather systems, Hurricane Nora, lower left, and Hurricane Ida, right, over the North American continent on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. Hurricane Nora is churning northward up Mexico's Pacific Coast toward the narrow Gulf of California, after making a sweep past the Puerto Vallarta area. (HOGP)

Associated Press

MEXICO CITY — Hurricane Nora caused floods and landslides along Mexico’s Pacific coast Sunday, while making landfall again and passing just inland of the Mazatlan resort area before veering into the Gulf of California and weakening into a tropical storm.

Communities in the coastal states of Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco experienced heavy rain and rough surf as the storm moved northward hugging the shoreline.

The Jalisco state government said a teenager from Spain died Saturday night when a hotel partially collapsed in Puerto Vallarta amid severe flooding when Nora passed by the tourist city as a Category 1 hurricane. A woman was also missing there after her car was swept away. Officials said flooding damaged 500 homes and two people were injured in a landslide.

Six fishermen from the state of Guerrero were listed as missing at sea.

Nora’s maximum sustained winds had weakened to 60 mph by midafternoon Sunday and it was moving to the north-northwest at 12 mph. Its center was about 105 miles northwest of Mazatlan.

In Puerto Vallarta, two rivers overflowed during the storm and flooded part of the center of the town. A torrent of water shattered a bridge and took away part of a small four-story boutique hotel where the dead boy was found Sunday after eight hours of searching. The rest of his family escaped before the collapse, authorities said.

Jalisco Gov. Enrique Alfaro said the missing woman in Puerto Vallarta was lost when surging waters dragged her from her car and swept her away

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Nora was likely to keep dragging along the mainland shore of the gulf for the next several days, then diminish to a tropical depression and head inland toward the Arizona border region. The storm’s remnants could bring heavy rains by midweek to the U.S. Southwest and central Rockies, the hurricane center said.

The center said some areas along the west coast of Mexico could see rainfall totals from 8 to 12 inches with even more in some spots.