Mudslides Triggered By Hurricane Earl Kill Dozens of Mexicans

Destruction from the rains of Hurricane Earl in
Mexico. Photo by Kirsten Luce/NYT  

Hurricane Earl smashed ashore in Belize late last week, causing quite a bit of damage in that small nation's capital city.

But Earl's deadliest swipe came further north, in the southern reaches of Mexico, where incredible rains unleashed huge mudslides that swept into villages.

At least 38 people died in the mudslides, but the thinking is the death toll will rise as more bodies are discovered.

Some areas in Mexico had a month's worth of rain in five hours, and whole mountainsides seemed to shear off during the mudslides, the New York Times said.

Flooding from dying hurricanes moving inland is a real hazard. Often, these floods are the worst aspect of a hurricane or tropical storm.

We've seen that locally in Vermont. Hurricane Irene was kind of bad, but not extreme as it swiped North Carolina and the coastlines of New Jersey and Long Island.

But when the decaying hurricane moved inland, it caused record, devastating floods in central and northern New York, and across most of Vermont. 

Hurricane season in the Atlantic is heading into peak season. There's no immediate signs of anything forming, but Earl and Irene prove that you should worry about hurricanes even if you live nowhere near the coast.