The death toll from Hurricane Ian, which hit the southeastern United States, exceeded 80 on Sunday, as trapped residents in Florida, North and South Carolina struggled to recover, but losses could reach tens of billions of dollars.
On the other hand, the National Hurricane Center said that Hurricane Orlene, which hits Mexico, headed towards the southwest coast of the country as a strong category 3 storm, and is expected to cause heavy rain, despite its weakness in the coming days.
The Miami-based center added, in its latest public warning, that Orlen, which has winds with maximum speeds approaching 185 kilometers per hour, is also expected to reach the coast of mainland Mexico on Monday.
"But while it will weaken over the next day or so, forecasts say Orlin will be a strong hurricane when it passes near or over Islas Marias Island, and will remain a hurricane when it reaches southwest Mexico," he said.
He added that heavy rains may lead to severe flooding, as well as possible landslides in rugged areas.
The authorities urged local residents to take maximum precautions as the hurricane approached, and said that 937 temporary shelters were open if necessary, and the Mexican Civil Protection Agency announced on Twitter the closure of a number of ports as a precaution.
Ian dead
As for Hurricane Ian's death toll, it is expected that the number will continue to rise as the flood waters recede and search teams penetrate into areas that were initially cut off from the outside world.
Hundreds of people have been rescued so far, with emergency personnel inspecting homes and buildings that were flooded or completely swept away, and at least 85 deaths related to the hurricane have been confirmed since it reached the Florida coast with catastrophic strength as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum winds of 240 km in the hour.
All but 4 of the dead were in Florida, with the coastal Lee County mayor's office counting 42 dead in the county that bore the brunt of the storm when it made landfall.
Officials in 4 neighboring provinces recorded 39 more deaths.
Lee County officials faced questions about whether they had ordered the evacuations in time.
The White House also said, in a statement, the day before yesterday, Saturday, that President Joe Biden and the first lady will survey the devastation in Florida directly next Wednesday.
Biden and his wife are scheduled to visit Puerto Rico on Monday, where hundreds of thousands of people are still without electricity, two weeks after Hurricane Fiona swept the island.