BELIZE CITY, Thurs. June 2, 2022

The first hurricane for the Eastern Pacific hurricane season, Agatha, made landfall on Monday as a category two storm. Mexican authorities have confirmed that 9 persons lost their lives and 4 others are currently missing as a result of the storm.

Landslides and flooding have already occurred, and officials are warning of the possibility of more of such occurrences.

Hurricane Agatha knocked out power and telecommunication services near the coastal town of Puerto Angel on the Pacific coast before dissipating as it traveled through Mexico—its remnants emerging in the Yucatan Peninsula.

This system was expected to dump heavy rains on northern Belize, prompting the Ministry of Agriculture to issue an advisory to farmers to reap any crop almost ready for harvest in order to avoid any losses resulting from a flood. However, the Chief Meteorologist, Ronald Gordon, has stated that this system is no longer a threat to Belize.

What remains of Agatha, which is now a tropical disturbance in the Atlantic basin, is headed in the direction of Cuba and Florida, and was located just on the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula today at 4:00 PM CDT.

The system has a 90% chance of formation over the next 48 hours, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) says, adding that heavy rain is expected to continue in the eastern Yucatan, and over the Cayman Islands, and western Cuba.

“Life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides are possible across western Cuba,” the NHC states in its first advisory on the system. Tropical storm conditions may develop between Friday night and Saturday.

It is highly likely that the remnant of the first system to develop in the Eastern Pacific will give rise to the first system for the 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season.