Tropical Storm Trudy Kills Six – Mudslides Strand 16 Towns

Six people have died as Tropical Storm Trudy - since downgraded to a tropical depression - lashes Mexico, prompting evacuations and stranding 16 towns. The heavy rain caused a landslide on a farm in the indigenous town of Tlacoachistlahuaca in the southern state of Guerrero, killing a 23-year-old man, a civil protection official told local media on Sunday. Two children and a woman were crushed to death when a wall collapsed in a mudslide in Ometepec; another person was buried in Cochoapa by a caved-in wall; and a swollen stream swept away a 70-year-old man, officials say. Some 2000 people were evacuated from three towns in the mountain region hardest hit by Trudy. Authorities urged residents not to return home for at least 48 hours, until the threat of landslides passed. Another 300 people were evacuated on Saturday night in three other Guerrero towns, where a river threatened to overflow and cause dangerous flooding. Landslides and flooding also cut off access to 16 other towns and damaged a main road to Acapulco. Last year, a twin hit from tropical storms battered both coasts, leaving 157 dead. In September, Hurricane Odile killed six people and caused $US1 billion ($A1.08 billion) in damage further north on Mexico's Pacific coast, wreaking havoc in the luxury resort area of Los Cabos.