Heavy rains still a threat as Hurricane Barbara weakens to tropical depression in Mexico

Heavy rains and flooding remained a threat Thursday morning after Hurricane Barbara made landfall on the southern Pacific coast of Mexico late Wednesday.

 In a public advisory Thursday morning, the National Hurricane Center out of the United States said the storm had weakened to a tropical depression around the Gulf coast of Mexico, but that three to five inches of rain was expected, bringing storm totals to about 25 inches.

The heavy rain could cause life-threatening mudslides and flash floods, the NHC said. According to media reports, the storm had caused two fatalities in Mexico and 14 fishermen were reportedly missing.

Maximum sustained winds had decreased by Thursday to about 30 miles per hour, with higher gusts.

Hurricane Barbara floods Mexico’s southern Pacific coast, kills two nbcnews.to/114oaGI via @nbcnewsworld

— EQECAT, Inc. (@EQECAT) May 30, 2013

Barbara reached hurricane status with 75 mile per hour winds at Wednesday morning, less than two hours before making landfall, according to catastrophe modelling firm AIR Worldwide.

“AIR expects insured losses from this storm to be minimal as a result of Barbara’s relatively low wind speeds and because the storm made landfall in a sparsely populated stretch of the Mexican coast,” its statement on the storm noted. 

As of Thursday morning, the storm’s centre was expected to move very near or along the Gulf of Mexico. The storm is expected to dissipate within a day or so, the NHC reported.

By Thursday morning, the Mexican government had discontinued all tropical storm warnings and no coastal watches or warnings were in effect.

According to AIR, most insured residential and commercial buildings in Mexico are masonry and concrete and have slab roofs resistant to uplift from winds.

Most apartment buildings in Mexico are also masonry, with the exception of high-rise apartments, which are generally made of reinforced concrete, the firm said. The country has no national building code, and it is estimated that about half of all new homes are built without permits, according to AIR. 

“Wind damage to engineered structures at Category 1 wind speeds is expected to be limited to cladding and roof coverings, but non-engineered structures will likely experience damage beyond cladding and roof coverings, including structural roof elements,” it said. 

Barbara is the second named storm of the Eastern Pacific hurricane season. Tropical Storm Alvin, the season’s first named storm, developed on May 15.