PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Nora, which has
now weakened to a tropical storm, killed one boy over the
weekend after torrential rains and heavy winds caused a building
the popular resort town Puerto Vallarta to partially collapse.
Nora was about 105 miles (165 kilometers) north-west of
Mazatlan on Sunday evening and moving north-north west at 12
miles per hour (19 km per hour), the National Hurricane Center
(NHC) said https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPEP4+shtml/292051.shtml.
It was blowing at 60 mph (95 kph) with higher gusts.
In Puerto Vallarta, a river burst, destroying a bridge,
flooding roads and bringing a building to collapse, a Reuters
witness said.
Earlier, Nora was a Category 1 hurricane, the lowest rating
on a five-step scale.
The dead body of a minor was recovered from a partially
collapsed hotel, Jalisco Governor Enrique Alfaro said on
Twitter. It was not immediately clear whether the second person
that had also been missing, a woman, has been located.
"This tragedy was caused by the partial collapse of a hotel
in downtown Puerto Vallarta, due to the overflow of the Cuale
River," Alfaro wrote. "To his family, who came to our port from
Spain 7 years ago, and to his loved ones, all our support and
our deepest condolences. R.I.P."
Elsewhere, local media showed pictures of flooding, felled
trees, damaged roads and power lines across several states.
The Miami-based NHC expected Nora to continue moving
north-northwest on Sunday in its latest advisory and then move
slower northwest through Tuesday.
"Gradual weakening is forecast during the couple of days as
the center moves roughly parallel to the coast of Mexico," the
NHC said. "However, rapid weakening will likely occur if the
center moves inland sooner than forecast."
Nora will likely produce additional heavy rainfall along the
west coast of Mexico from the states of Jalisco to Sonora
through late week, the NHC said. It could also produce
life-threatening flash flooding and mud slides, as well as storm
surge and large waves.
Last week, Hurricane Grace killed eight people after it hit
Veracruz.
(Reporting by Alfonso Lepe in Puerto Vallarta;
Additional reporting by Miguel Angel Gutierrez and Stefanie
Eschenbacher in Mexico City;
Editing by Bill Berkrot and Lisa Shumaker)