Both Mexican Coasts Are Lashed By Deadly Tropical Cyclones

Tropical Storm Manuel and Hurricane Ingrid made landfall within hours of each other on Mexico's two coasts, leaving at least 21 people dead.

The Washington Post reports:

"On the Pacific coast, Tropical Storm Manuel came ashore Sunday afternoon near the port of Manzanillo, dumping heavy rains on remote mountain communities in the nearby state of Guerrero. Swollen rivers swept away homes and bridges, and authorities had to shut down the airport at the beach resort of Acapulco.

"The flooding cut off the state's main road link to the rest of Mexico, as multiple mudslides left the 'Sun Highway' completely impassable and indefinitely closed along the 200-mile stretch from Acapulco to Cuernavaca.

"A separate storm system, Ingrid, made landfall early Monday on Mexico's Gulf Coast, having weakened from hurricane-strength to a tropical storm. Its rains were blamed for several deaths in Puebla, Hidalgo and other states, federal officials said."

The BBC reports that 6,000 people were told to evacuate in Tamaulipas.

The AP reports that the storms put a damper on Independence Day celebrations. The wire service has some details on the deaths:

"In the southern coastal state of Guerrero, authorities said a landslide on the outskirts of Acapulco buried a house and killed six family members. Three people were swept to their deaths by a river, also on the edge of the resort city. A collapsing wall killed one person in the city.

"Elsewhere in Guerrero, six people died when their pickup truck skidded on a rain-swept highway in the mountains, and landslides killed two more people."

Reuters has some video of the storms:

Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.