Hurricane Agatha kills 11, leaves 20 missing in south Mexico
NBCSep 09, 2022
Hurricane Agatha Breaks Record in Deadly Mexico Landfall
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Image copyright: Reuters [via Al Jazeera]
The Facts
11 people are reported dead and 20 missing in the aftermath of Hurricane Agatha's landfall in Oaxaca, Mexico. Agatha is now the strongest hurricane on record to make landfall in the month of May during the Eastern Pacific hurricane season.
Agatha came ashore Mon. night as a Category 2 hurricane. Gov. Alejandro Murat said rivers overflowed their banks and swept away people in their homes, while other victims were buried under mud and rocks.
The Spin
Narrative A
This is but the latest tragic result of climate change. As with other similar explosive hurricanes, unusually warm waters - catalyzed by human-caused climate change - fueled the storm's rapid intensification before its deadly landfall. Global warming must be addressed now, or storms like this will only become more frequent.
Narrative B
It's easy to dismiss any extreme weather event as a consequence of climate change, but in reality they're usually influenced by a myriad of factors. More research is needed before we can establish any direct causal link between the two.
