Erick, the strongest hurricane to hit Mexico so early in the year, triggers deadly flooding
A variety of videos show the range of impacts across the western Mexican coast when Hurricane Erick arrived on June 19.
(CNN) — Hurricane Erick slammed into Mexico’s Oaxaca state as a dangerous Category 3 storm Thursday morning, unleashing powerful winds at the coast and heavy rains that have caused deadly flooding in the region.
The hurricane made landfall about 20 miles east of Punta Maldonado, Mexico, just after 6 a.m. CDT Thursday, according to NOAA’s National Hurricane Center. Winds of 125 mph were roaring around its center at landfall.
Category 4 Hurricane Erick approaches Mexico late Wednesday night. (Photo credit: CIRA/RAMMB/NOAA via CNN Newsource)
The storm came ashore about 100 miles east of Acapulco, the city devastated by Hurricane Otis in October 2023.
The hurricane’s heavy rain created rushing rivers in Oaxaca and neighboring Guerrero Thursday, killing at least one person in San Marcos, the Associated Press reported. A 1-year-old boy drowned in the town – located about 30 miles east of Acapulco – after his mother tried to cross a swollen river while carrying him, according to Guerrero state Civil Defense Director Roberto Arroyo.
People gather in an area affected following the passage of Hurricane Erick in Chacahua, Oaxaca state, Mexico on June 19, 2025. (Photo by CARLO ECHEGOYEN/AFP via Getty Images)
A view of a fallen tree by passage of Hurricane Erick in Chacahua, Oaxaca state, Mexico on June 19, 2025. (Photo by CARLO ECHEGOYEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Erick is the first major hurricane – Category 3 or greater – on record to hit Mexico before July. The hurricane maxed out as a ferocious Category 4 storm with 145 mph winds just off the coast in the earliest hours of Thursday morning.
It underwent extreme rapid intensification from Tuesday night into Wednesday night, strengthening from a tropical storm to a Category 4 hurricane in just 24 hours. Rapid intensification is becoming more frequent in a world warming due to fossil fuel pollution.
Erick deteriorated quickly as it tracked through Mexico’s steep mountains and dissipated Thursday night. It became a Category 1 hurricane a few hours after landfall, was a tropical storm in the afternoon and then completely broke apart. Despite that, it dropped a troubling amount of rain in a short period and its leftover moisture will fuel more rain through Friday.
The East Pacific hurricane season has been very busy since it began in mid-May. Erick was the fifth named storm of the season – storms are named when they reach at least tropical storm-strength – and the second hurricane. The basin doesn’t typically have its second hurricane until mid-July, according to NOAA.
The Atlantic hurricane season is also underway, but has yet to churn out its first named storm and there’s little prospect for it in the next few days.
Acapulco, still scarred by Otis, dodges the worst of Erick
Heavy rain and wind impacted the coasts of Guerrero and Oaxaca, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday morning, adding damage reports are still pending.
Later Thursday, Sheinbaum said “the people have reacted very well so far,” the AP reported.
Ahead of the hurricane Wednesday night, the president said all activities in the region in Erick’s path were suspended, the AP reported.
Acapulco’s port closed Tuesday evening. Guerrero state Gov. Evelyn Salgado said all movement in Acapulco and other beach communities was to be suspended at 8 p.m. Wednesday in a post on X, and schools across the state were to remain closed through Thursday.
Boats fill Manzanillo beach as others are removed from the water in Acapulco, Mexico, on Wednesday, ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Erick. (Photo credit: Fernando Llano/AP via CNN Newsource)
Salgado said 582 shelters were set to receive people who might evacuate their homes across Guerrero.
Laura Velázquez, Mexico’s national civil defense coordinator, said Erick was forecast to bring “torrential” rains to Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas states, according to the AP. The mountainous region along the southern coast is especially prone to mudslides with numerous rivers at risk of flooding.
Nearly 16 inches of rain could fall through Friday in some portions of Guerrero’s mountainous terrain, according to the NHC. This could trigger life-threatening flooding or mudslides. Up to 8 inches of rain is possible in the same timeframe for coastal areas of Oaxaca and Guerrero. Acapulco could record up to 6 inches of rain from Erick.
In Acapulco on Wednesday, there was a strong presence of National Guard and police in the streets, but most visible were trucks from the national power company, the AP reported. Crews worked to clear drainage canals and brush.
The memory of Hurricane Otis haunted some residents as they prepared for Erick. Otis underwent some of the most extreme rapid intensification on record and strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane just before landfall.
Carlos Ozuna Romero, 51, lost his restaurant at the edge of an Acapulco beach when Otis slammed the resort with devastating winds, he told the AP. On Wednesday, he directed workers storing tables and chairs.
“Authorities’ warnings fill us with fear and obviously make us remember everything we’ve already been through,” Ozuna Romero said in reference to Otis.
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