Nearly 100,000 Customers Were Without Power

Tropical storm "Rick" degraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm over southwestern Mexico on Monday, a few hours after entering the country, where it has caused power outages and downed trees and signs, although several areas remain on alert, authorities said. At 13.00 local time (1800 GMT) the cyclone was about 170 kilometers north of the port of Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan, and was blowing maximum sustained winds of 95 kilometers per hour (kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC, for its acronym in English). Rick, which reached the country as a category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with maximum sustained winds of 165 kph, was advancing north at 17 kph and its torrential rains are expected to produce "flash flooding and landslides," the NHC said. HIGH SURF AND STORM SURGE It will also cause high surf in coastal areas through early Tuesday morning. "These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf."

According to the National Meteorological Service (SMN), Rick impacted early Monday in the vicinity of the municipality La Union de Isidoro Montes de Oca, in Guerrero, neighboring state of Michoacan. The agency urged the population to take extreme precautions after warning that "the rains caused by the cyclone may provoke landslides, an increase in the levels of rivers and streams, and overflows and floods in low areas". DAMAGE TO POPULATIONS ON LAND According to a Reuters witness and images shared by local media, the main damage caused by the passage of Rick were fallen trees and signs in the streets of coastal areas such as Zihuatanejo, in Guerrero, and Lázaro Cárdenas. The Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) informed in a press release that, as a result of the strong winds and rainfall, close to 100,000 users were left without electricity in Guerrero and Michoacán