Large Waves Batter El Salvador, Mexico
By DIEGO MENDEZ, Associated Press Writer
6:26 PM PDT, April 10, 2007
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador -- Unusually high Pacific waves battered beaches
from El Salvador to Mexico and carried people out to sea, prompting authorities
in some places to order swimmers out of the water Tuesday. At least two people
were killed.
Waves topping 10 feet swept away a dozen swimmers near La Libertad on
Monday, 10 of whom were plucked from the water by boats and a helicopter,
Green Cross emergency worker Jose Larin said. A 35-year-old man and a 16year-old boy were killed.
El Salvador's government advised people "to avoid swimming at our beaches
due to the risk," Interior Minister Miguel Bolanos told a news conference
Tuesday.
Hundreds of miles to the north in Mexico, 16 people were rescued after being
carried away by high surf in the resorts of Acapulco and Mazatlan. Lifeguards in
Mazatlan ordered swimmers out of the water, local media reported.
The large waves may be the result of swells generated last week by a powerful
storm thousands of miles away off the western coast of South America, said U.S.
National Weather Service meteorologist Dennis Feltgen.
"It was a very impressive storm, and that storm, of course, is long dissipated,"
Feltgen said. "However, the swells from that wave action would have been going
out, and it generally takes about a week's time to get from there to the Mexican,
El Salvador or Costa Rican coast."
Tourists try to protect themselves after a strong wave hit the resort city of Acapulco, Mexico, Monday, April 9, 2007. The unusual
waves could be the result of swells just reaching some Pacific coasts from a powerful storm that occurred last week off the
western coast of South America, thousands of miles to the south, according to the U.S. National Weather Service. Scientists have
warned that rising global temperatures may produce stronger and more frequent storms that will affect coastal cities in Latin
America and could change the face of tourism.(AP Photo)