At least 12 people have died in another landslide in southern Mexico followingtorrential rain unleashed by the former Tropical Storm Matthew, as reportedWednesday.This latest landslide reportedly happened Tuesday at Amatan in the southernstate of Chiapas. Amatan lies about 40 miles south-southeast of Villahermosa inthe neighboring state of Tabasco.
In the lead-up to the landslide, rainfall at Villahermosa was about 8 incheswithin 24 hours, and the hills in and about Amatan may have had much more.
Thus, rain-soaked steep hillsides likely broke loose owing to the loading fromexcessive rainfall.
The Chiapas slide followed by a day another deadly landslip in the rugged stateof Oaxaca, west of Chiapas. This slide, at the hillside town of Santa MariaTlahuitoltepec, left 11 people missing according to authorities. Earlier fearshad been that up to 1,000 people were dead or missing.
As of Thursday, all of southern Mexico will benefit from a break in the heavyrain for at least a few days.
Story by Jim Andrews, AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist
