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New storm forms off Mexico; toll from earlier storm hits 39

Earl, which was briefly a hurricane before hitting Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula, dumped rain and triggered deadly landslides across parts of eastern Mexico, The Associated Press reported.

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Some 200 people were left homeless in Puebla by the rains, while in the eastern state of Veracruz, rivers swelled with rainwater and dozens of families were evacuated. Another 10 people were killed in the state of Veracruz.

The death toll due to tropical storm Earl that battered Mexico over the weekend has risen to 38, authorities said.

Earl swept in from the Caribbean at hurricane strength Wednesday, striking just south of Belize’s capital.

“We continue to monitor rivers that are above critical levels”, Veracruz Governor Javier Duarte said in a post on Twitter on Sunday.

The Miami-based National Hurricane Center said Javier was about 250 miles (405 km) southwest of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Gabriel Alvarado, mayor of Huauchinango, said: “It’s a tragedy what has happened to our people in Huauchinango”.

It said in a statement that at least one person was killed.

The continuing downpour prompted authorities to close down a section of the main federal highway linking Mexico city to the affected regions which received a month’s worth of rain roughly within 24 hours, according to media reports. It was moving west-northwest at about 13 miles per hour (20 kph).Heavy rains of between 4 and 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) were expected, along with high winds.

The approaching Tropical Storm Javier is expected to bring heavy rains and high winds to southwestern Mexico in the coming days, U.S. weather forecasters said.

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The storm was staying offshore from Mexico’s southwestern coast, and forecasters said Javier would approach the resort-dotted southern portion of the Baja California Peninsula by early Tuesday. Heavy rains of between 4 and 8 inches are expected along with high winds.

Landslides caused by intense rainfall from Tropical Storm Earl have killed six people in Mexico