Hurricane Earl death toll in Mexico rises to 39

After forming in the western Caribbean on Aug. 2, Earl made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane near Belize City on Aug. 4. It was the first hurricane to make landfall in Belize — or anywhere in the western Caribbean Sea west of Jamaica — since 2012.

Earl passed over Guatemala and southern Mexico before regaining strength over theGulf of Mexico and making a second landfall southeast of Veracruz late Friday...Heavy rain in the area led officials to close a section of the main federal highway connecting Mexico City to the region...

Federal transportation authorities said the area had received a month's worth of rain in 24 hours.

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The governor of the Gulf Coast state of Veracruz,Javier Duarte, said Sunday that 11 people had died in landslides in the towns of Cocomatepec, Tequila and Huayacocotla. Officials in the central state of Puebla also reported at least one death in a landslide in the mountain town of Xaltepec.

Authorities were still searching the area for residents who were reported missing, according to a statement from the state government.

At least 28 people died in multiple mudslides in the mountainous north of Puebla state, National Civil Protection Coordinator Luis Felipe Puente said in an interview with ForoTV. He said 25 of the dead were in various parts of the township of Huaucinango and three were in Tlaola