Death count from Hurricane Stan rises in Mexico, Central America

Published: 2005-10-10

MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- The death count from Hurricane Stan continued to rise in Mexico and Central America as rescue workers reached towns cut off by massive floods and mudslides. The storm, which churned into Mexico's Gulf Coast Oct. 4 before unleashing heavy rains onto much of Central America, left more than 600 confirmed dead and more than 1,000 more missing in the region, though relief workers said the number could be much higher and warned that residents could be dogged by disease and food shortages for months. The storm slammed into the Mexican state of Veracruz as a Category 1 hurricane with winds of 80 mph, although it caused relatively little damage on the coast and quickly dissipated into a tropical storm. But as the storm moved south through Mexico and hovered over Guatemala and El Salvador for several days, rivers overflowed to swallow neighborhoods and destroy roads, and mountainsides soaked with torrential downpours collapsed onto towns.

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