Death toll in Mexico's rainstorms rises to 21

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Hurricane Ingrid and Tropical Storm Manuel gained strength on Sunday off the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific, leaving at least 21 people dead and thousands of others evacuated.

Residents walk on a flooded road in Renacimiento colony in Acapulco, Guerrero, southern Mexico, Sept, 15, 2013. [Photo/Xinhua]

Heavy rains in the states of Guerrero, Veracruz, Puebla, Tamaulipas and Hidalgo, caused most of the deaths and injuries, a source told Xinhua.

Torrential rains, floods and landslides have killed 14 people in Guerrero, three in Puebla, three in Hidalgo and one in Oaxaca, said federal Civil Protection Coordinator Luis Felipe Puente.

The rains will continue at least in the next 24 hours in these areas and some other states that include Mexico, Campeche, Tabasco, San Luis Potosi, Nuevo Leon, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Jalisco, Colima and Nayarit, according to the National Weather Service.

In Guerrero and Puebla, many houses were damaged and downtown streets inundated.

Ingrid, a category referring to hurricanes with sustained winds of 120 km per hour, could grow even stronger over the next two days as it approaches Mexico's coast and makes landfall on Monday in the western states of Veracruz and Tamaulipas, the National Weather Service said.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC), based in Miami, said Ingrid would make landfall with maximum sustained winds of 140 km per hour after gaining strength over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

The hurricane could also trigger a storm surge of as much as 3 to 5 meters, with "large and destructive waves," said a forecaster in the NHC.

Meanwhile, the warning of Tropical Storm Manuel was also in effect on the Pacific coast of Mexico from Manzanillo to Lazaro Cardenas.

The NHC said the eye of Manuel, with maximum winds of 110 km per hour, was located 120 km from the Pacific coast near the port of Lazaro Cardenas Sunday morning and could reach the mainland in the coming hours.

Two weeks ago, Tropical Storm Fernand claimed 13 lives as it swept through Veracruz.

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