Hurricane Simon and Storm Rachel Leave Two Dead, Ten Missing Across Mexico’s Pacific Coast

Simon concludes a historic Pacific hurricane season marked by record-breaking intensity and widespread destruction from Hawaii to Mexico.

At least two people have died in Mexico after Hurricane Simon and the remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel unleashed torrential rains and catastrophic flooding on Pacific coast communities.

During a Monday press briefing, Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado confirmed that a 71-year-old man died during Hurricane Simon when a retaining wall collapsed under the weight of intense precipitation. According to the Guerrero-based news agency IRZA, the victim, identified by his family as Albino Moreno Jimenez, had been feeding his animals on the western outskirts of Chilpancingo when the wall fell on him.

A second fatality was reported later in the day in Baja California along Mexico’s western coast. Governor Marina del Pilar announced that a young girl died from the effects of what was once Hurricane Rachel, which peaked in early October as a Category 3 storm. At least 10 more people remain missing in Baja California, according to the governor. Eight were reported missing in the coastal city of Ensenada, and two in the fishing town of San Felipe on the Gulf of California. Preliminary figures vary, with local newspaper La Jornada reporting a higher toll of two deaths in Baja California and 11 missing.

Death Toll Expected to Rise

Rachel made landfall as a post-tropical cyclone, and its remnants have tracked north through Southern California in the southwestern United States. Hurricane Simon, meanwhile, has churned off the Mexican coast since the weekend. By late Monday morning, it had weakened from a powerful Category 4 storm to a Category 2, with maximum sustained winds near 155 km/h (100 mph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. Its center was approximately 115 km west-southwest of Cabo Corrientes in Jalisco state, drifting west at 3 km/h.

Forecasters predict Simon could make landfall Thursday or Friday. Hurricane warnings remain in effect for western Mexico, which faces heightened vulnerability to landslides and deadly surf conditions. Experts warn the death toll from both storms could climb, and officials have urged residents to exercise caution amid downed trees, high winds, and floodwaters.

The Spanish newspaper El País reported the death of cliff diver Juan Patines, who was killed in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, after jumping into the sea Saturday night. Heavy surf hampered his return to shore amid dangerous coastal conditions linked to Hurricane Simon. Local authorities subsequently suspended cliff-diving at the site due to hazardous seas. Officials have not yet confirmed whether his death was directly caused by the hurricane.

A Record Pacific Storm Season

Rachel and Simon have battered Mexico’s western coast as part of an extraordinary stretch of hurricane activity across the Pacific. The northeastern and central Pacific Ocean has experienced a record storm season this year, fueled in part by the El Niño weather phenomenon, which warms waters across the region. Twenty-one named storms have been recorded in the Pacific so far.

On Sunday, Simon pushed the region to a historic high for accumulated cyclone energy (ACE), a metric measuring the combined strength and longevity of tropical storms, surpassing the previous record set in 2018. The U.S. island chain of Hawaii has been among the hardest-hit areas. In August, Hurricane Lala unleashed ruinous flooding on Hawaii’s Big Island as a Category 1 storm, killing a 93-year-old woman and destroying approximately 100 homes, according to state officials.

Weeks later, Hurricane Lowell, a Category 4 hurricane at its peak, struck the Hawaiian islands of Kauai and Niihau, where powerful winds, storm surge, and flooding overwhelmed towns and roads. Roughly 90 percent of Kauai’s power customers lost electricity. At least two deaths were linked to Lowell. In late September, Hurricane Nolo brought another round of flooding and landslides to the Hawaiian islands, though it did not make landfall.

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