Hurricane Simon leaves one dead, causes damage on Mexico’s Pacific coast

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico (AFP) -- Powerful Hurricane Simon, a Category 3 storm on the five-point Saffir-Simpson scale, has left one person dead and caused property damage as it moved slowly along Mexico's Pacific coast, authorities said Monday. The victim was a 71-year-old man who "died when a wall collapsed in Chilpancingo" in the southern state of Guerrero, Governor Evelyn Salgado said during the daily presidential press conference. The storm has threatened more severe destruction, but its winds weakened as it interacted with the mountains during its slow progress along the coast. Simon, which had been expected to make a more direct strike over the weekend, changed course. It is moving away from Mexico's beaches but could turn back toward the coast and move inland in Sinaloa state on Wednesday night, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecast. The latest official report from Mexican authorities indicates that "it will hit Mazatlan, Sinaloa, as a Category 1 hurricane," Laura Velazquez, the national civil protection coordinator, said at the daily presidential press conference. The tourist gem of Puerto Vallarta, which had been expected to feel the storm's effects, awoke Monday to clear skies and a rainbow, an AFP team observed. Residents of the beach resort exercised along the seafront promenade as waves continued to crash with force. The El Nino phenomenon, characterized by rising water temperatures in the Pacific, is fueling a more intense hurricane season in the region.