Tropical depression Fernand kills 13 in Mexico, dissipates

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Torrential rains triggered by tropical depression Fernand killed 13 people in central Mexico on Monday before it dissipated, though the country’s major oil installations were unaffected.

Nine people were killed in the town of Yecuatla, three in the city of Tuxpan, and one in the town of Atzalan, all in Mexico’s eastern Veracruz state, Governor Javier Duarte said.

“All of (the deaths) were caused by landslides in the hills above their homes,” Duarte said at a news conference.

The bulk of oil and gas installations of state-run monopoly Pemex are located to the south of the once-powerful storm, and were not affected, a company spokesperson said.

Located about 75 miles west-southwest of Tuxpan, the remains of Fernand had maximum sustained winds of 30 miles per hour and dissipated further inland at about 9 miles per hour, the NHC said earlier on Monday.

Fernand made landfall near the coastal city of Veracruz early in the day.

More than 200 people had been evacuated from their homes in Veracruz state, according to local emergency services.

Mexico’s government discontinued all costal warnings earlier in the day.

Fernand was still expected to produce between 4 and 15 inches of rain in the east-central states of Veracruz, Hidalgo, Puebla and San Luis Potosi, as well as the northern state of Tamaulipas.

(Reporting by David Alire Garcia and Liz Diaz; Editing by Simon Gardner and Sandra Maler)