page_title: Hurricane Keith
section_title: Mexico
hierarchical_section_title: Hurricane Keith / Impact / Mexico
caption_attribution_description: Hurricane Keith and Tropical Storm Olivia of 2000.
context_page_description: Hurricane Keith was an Atlantic hurricane in October 2000 that caused extensive damage in Central America, especially in Mexico and Belize. It was the fifteenth tropical cyclone, eleventh named storm, and seventh hurricane of the 2000 Atlantic hurricane season. Keith developed as a tropical depression from a tropical wave in the western Caribbean Sea on September 28. The depression gradually strengthened, and became Tropical Storm Keith on the following day. As the storm tracked westward, it continued to intensify and was upgraded to a hurricane on September 30. Shortly thereafter, Keith began to rapidly deepen, and peaked as a Category 4 hurricane less than 24 hours later. Keith then began to meander erratically offshore of Belize, which significantly weakened the storm due to land interaction. By late on October 2, Keith made landfall in Ambergris Caye, Belize as a minimal hurricane. It quickly weakened to a tropical storm, before another landfall occurred near Belize City early on the following day. While moving inland over the Yucatán Peninsula, Keith weakened further, and was downgraded to a tropical depression before emerging into the Gulf of Mexico on October 4.
context_section_description: Hurricane Keith caused damage in three Mexican states – Quintana Roo along the Yucatán peninsula, Tamaulipas where the hurricane made landfall, and Sonora farther inland. In Quintana Roo, Keith left $2.7 million (2000 MXN, $294,000 2000 USD) in damage, and caused an additional $39.7 million (2000 MXN, $4.2 million 2000 USD) in indirect costs. While crossing the Yucatán peninsula, Keith dropped heavy rainfall, including over 10 in (250 mm) in Campeche state. Chetumal, Quintana Roo reported 9.65 in (245 mm) of precipitation.
  When Keith made its final landfall, Tampico reported tropical storm force winds, with gusts to 63 mph (101 km/h). The winds damaged billboards and some trees in the city, and elsewhere along the coast, Keith knocked down trees and power lines. About 200,000 people in northeastern Mexico lost power, and 100,000 people were left without water. About 400 houses were damaged in Veracruz, and many roads and bridges were destroyed. Heavy rainfall occurred in the interior of northeastern Mexico, peaking at 24.55 in (624 mm) in González, Tamaulipas. In a reporting station in the municipality of Gómez Farías, the pluviometer reported a 24-hour rain total of 13.24 inches (336 mm), and a storm total of 18.44 inches (468 mm), which broke the precipitation record for that location, which counted with 35 years of data. This rain also caused rivers to reach record levels, as the Sabinas River rose 10.95 m (35.9 ft) on October 6, to a new historical peak, and the Guayalejo River rose 77.46 ft (23.61 m), slightly under the 1976 record. This rainfall caused the Las Ánimas dam to catch 525,000 acre feet (648,000,000 m³) of water between October 5 and October 17; however, some of this water had to be released, as the upstream face of the dam was damaged by debris, and had to be repaired. Overall, the storm produced $117.8 million in damage (2000 MXN, $12.4 million 2000 USD) in the state.
  In Nuevo León, the remnants of Keith interacted with a cold front to produce heavy rainfall, reaching 14.43 in (367 mm) in Sabinas. The average precipitation in the state was 5 inches (130 mm), and the deluge caused causing mudslides in several cities, including San Pedro, Guadalupe and Escobedo. High rainfall also caused flash flood in mountainous areas near Monterrey, forming swift river currents that rose up to 9,000 ft³/s (250 m³/s), and dragged 130 people into local rivers; however, all were rescued. The rivers also dragged 30 vehicles, all of which were moderate to total losses. The storm runoff caused the El Cuchillo dam to receive 105,000 acre feet (130,000,000 m³) of water daily, and the La Boca dam to receive 810 acre feet (1,000,000 m³) per hour. About 13,000 residents lost power. About 5,000 people were forced evacuated from several municipalities in the state, including 2,465 from Monterrey and 1,900 from rural areas, at a cost of $400,000 (2000 MXN). The total damages in the state rose to $115.6 million (2000 MXN, US$12.2 million in year 2000), with the damage to urban infrastructure being the most expensive portion of the damage, with $44.2 million (2000 MXN, US$4.6 million in 2000) used to repair damage in eight municipalities; in particular, San Pedro Garza García received approximately three quarters of the infrastructure damage, with $30.8 million (2000 MXN, $3.3 million 2000 USD). Additionally, about 460 homes were damaged or destroyed, and 300 families had to be relocated to safer areas.
  In other states, damage was lighter, but still significant. In Sonora, total damages rose to $64.4 million (2000 MXN, $6.8 million 2000 USD); in Chiapas, $25.6 million (2000 MXN, $2.7 million 2000 USD) of property damage were caused by the storm. This brings up the total damage in Mexico to $365.9 million (2000 MXN, $38.7 million 2000 USD). In Tabasco, flooding damaged 7,896 houses. Approximately 24,000 residents in the state were impacted by flooding. At the capital city of Villahermosa, large rivers in the area overflowed, flooding some streets. However, dikes and sandbags along the banks of the rivers prevented further flooding. Ov
caption: Hurricane Keith making its final landfall in Mexico with Tropical Storm Olivia in the Pacific on October 5
exif: {}