MEXICO: STORMS ON OPPOSITE COASTS KILL 42

Storms on opposite coasts kill at least 42 in Mexico

By Elisha Fieldstadt, NBC News

Two storms simultaneously pummeled Mexico on opposite coasts Monday, resulting in 42 deaths.

Tropical Storm Ingrid descended on the Gulf Coast as Tropical Storm Manuel drenched the Pacific Coast, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. The National Weather Service predicted each storm would dump 10 to 15 inches of rain on each coast and warned that some isolated areas could experience as much as 25 inches of accumulation.

Landslides, flooded roads and building collapses claimed 21 lives in the Pacific seaport city of Acapulco, Constantino Gonzalez, an official with Guerrero state emergency services, told Reuters.

In Veracruz state, on Mexico’s Gulf Coast, 12 people were killed Monday when Ingrid’s rains caused a mountain landslide to bury their bus, said Veracruz Gov. Javier Duarte.

Hurricane Ingrid and Tropical Storm Manuel are combining forces as they ravage Mexico, causing widespread damage all the way from the Gulf to the Pacific Coast. Thousands of victims have been sent to emergency shelters.

Duarte tweeted on Monday that 23,000 people had been evacuated from their homes throughout the state.

Acapulco Mayor Luis Walton told reporters that 40,000 tourists were stranded in the city.

Manuel’s winds slowed as the storm moved toward West Central Mexico, and Ingrid was expected to dissipate overnight Monday as it progressed southwest, according to the National Hurricane Center. Still, the center cautioned that both storms would continue to bring heavy gusts of wind and torrential rains as they advanced inland.

"The storms have affected two-thirds of the entire national territory," Mexico's interior minister, Miguel Osorio Chong, said.

Reuters contributed to this report.

This story was originally published on Mon Sep 16, 2013 9:29 PM EDT