Two deaths reported as Hurricane Simon, storm Rachel batter Mexico’s coast

By Al Jazeera Staff and The Associated Press. Published On 12 Oct 202612 Oct 2026.

Key points

• Its maximum sustained winds had slowed slightly to around 155km/h (100mph), according to the US National Hurricane Center.
• The figures remain preliminary, with local newspaper La Jornada reporting a higher death toll of two in Baja California and 11 missing.
• At least two individuals have died in Mexico after Hurricane Simon and former tropical storm Rachel brought torrential rain and catastrophic flooding to Pacific coast communities.
• Rachel created landfall in the Mexican state as a post-tropical cyclone, and its remnants have travelled north through southern California in the southwestern United States.
• The Spanish newspaper El Pais documented the death of a cliff diver, Juan Patines.

At a Monday news briefing, Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado confirmed that a 71-year-old man had died during Hurricane Simon after a retaining wall collapsed under the weight of intense precipitation.

According to the Guerrero-based news agency IRZA, the man, identified by his family as Albino Moreno Jimenez, had been feeding his animals on the western outskirts of Chilpancingo when a wall came crashing down on him.

Notably, a second death was confirmed afterwards in the day in the state of Baja California along Mexico's western coast. There, Governor Marina del Pilar remarked that a young girl had died from the effects of what was once Hurricane Rachel. It peaked in early October as a Category 3 storm.

At least 10 more individuals remain missing in Baja California, according to the governor. Eight were documented missing in the city of Ensenada, on the Pacific coast, and two in the fishing town of San Felipe on the Gulf of California.

Meanwhile, the figures remain preliminary, with local newspaper La Jornada reporting a higher death toll of two in Baja California and 11 missing. Death toll projected to rise.

Hurricane Simon, meanwhile, has churned off the coast of Mexico since the weekend. By late Monday morning, it had weakened from a powerful Category 4 storm to a Category 2.

Its maximum sustained winds had slowed slightly to around 155km/h (100mph), according to the US National Hurricane Center. Its centre was regarding 115km west-southwest of Cabo Corrientes, a cape in the state of Jalisco, drifting west at 3km/h.

Forecasters predict Simon could create landfall on Thursday or Friday. Hurricane warnings remain in effect for western Mexico. It is vulnerable to landslides and deadly surf conditions since of the storm.

Experts warn the death toll from both storms could rise, and authorities have called on residents to exercise caution against the backdrop of the devastation wrought by downed trees, high winds and floodwaters.

Meanwhile, the Spanish newspaper El Pais documented the death of a cliff diver, Juan Patines. This person was killed in Mazatlan, the northwestern state of Sinaloa, after jumping into the sea on Saturday night.

According to Mexican media, the heavy surf hampered his efforts to return to shore against the backdrop of dangerous coastal conditions associated with Hurricane Simon. Local authorities afterwards halted cliff-diving at the site due to hazardous sea conditions.

Authorities have yet to confirm whether his death was directly linked to Hurricane Simon. A record Pacific storm season.

Rachel and Simon have battered Mexico's western coast as part of an extraordinary stretch of hurricane activity throughout the Pacific.

Meanwhile, the northeastern and central Pacific Ocean has experienced a record storm season this year, fuelled in part by the El Nino weather phenomenon. It results in warming waters in parts of the region. Twenty-one named storms have been recorded in the Pacific so far.

On Sunday, Simon tipped the region to a historic high for accumulated cyclone energy (ACE), a metric of the combined strength and longevity of tropical storms. This year has already surpassed the previous high set in 2018.

Notably, the US island chain of Hawaii has been among the hardest-hit places. In August, Hurricane Lala unleashed ruinous flooding on Hawaii's Major Island as a Category 1 storm, killing a 93-year-old woman and destroying some 100 homes, according to state office-holders.

For context, a few weeks afterwards, 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 were plunged into darkness since of electricity outages. At least two deaths were linked to Lowell.

Though it did not create landfall, in late September, Hurricane Nolo brought another round of flooding and landslides to the Hawaiian islands.

In short, two deaths reported as Hurricane Simon, storm Rachel batter Mexico's coast is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.