After Mexico was hit by two powerful tropical systems this week, meteorologists have warned of a new storm brewing in the Gulf of Mexico that might bring more flooding and heavy rains to the area, potentially hitting some locations in the U.S. Gulf Coast by the weekend.
The Mexican government reported that 58 people were missing after a storm that ripped through Acapulco and surrounding locations last weekend ramped up power once more, becoming Hurricane Manuel, which made landfall on Thursday, farther north in the state of Sinaloa. The Hurricane struck a small coffee-cultivating village in the country's southern mountains on Thursday, the Associated Press reported. Sheets of rain hit the area, while rescue workers scrambled to evacuate citizens living in the region.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center reported that Manuel had weakened into a tropical storm by 2 p.m. EST, with slowing winds hitting a region close to Altata, Mexico.
Mexico suffered huge devastation from Manuel and subsequent Tropical Storm Ingrid, which hit the next day, leading to flooded roads, sunken cars and ruined buildings on the country's east coast.
Meanwhile, yet another tropical system is forming in the Gulf of Mexico. The National Hurricane Center told USA Today that they expected the system will likely form into a depression in the next day or two. If the depression reaches winds of 39 mph, then it will be a tropical storm, named Jerry.
This storm could potentially hit the United States, bringing rain to parts of Texas with a potential for flash and urban flooding, according to AccuWeather.
"New information suggests that the system in the Gulf, while it is likely to become a tropical depression and may become a tropical storm, it is not likely to become a powerful hurricane," meteorologist Dan Kottlowski said. But, the storm "will likely spread heavy rain over portions of eastern and southern Mexico and could cause life-threatening floods and mudslides over areas already impacted by torrential rain during the past several days," the weather service advised in an online statement.
