Atoyac River (Oaxaca)

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Atoyac River
Country Mexico

The Atoyac River is a river in Oaxaca, Mexico. The Atoyac flows into the Rio Verde which empties into the Pacific near Laguna Chacahua, in Lagunas de Chacahua National Park, 90 km west of Puerto Escondido. The mountainous terrain of the region it occupies allows for no navigable rivers; instead, there are a large number of smaller ones, which often change name from area to area. The continental divide passes through the state, meaning that there is drainage towards both the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. Most of the drainage towards the Gulf is represented by the Papaloapan and Coatzacoalcos Rivers and their tributaries such as the Grande and Salado Rivers. Three rivers account for most of the water headed for the Pacific: the Mixteco River, Tehuantepec River, and the Atoyac, with their tributaries. [1]

Oaxaca State of Mexico

Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, make up the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 570 municipalities, of which 418 are governed by the system of usos y costumbres with recognized local forms of self-governance. Its capital city is Oaxaca de Juárez.

Mexico country in the southern portion of North America

Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost 2,000,000 square kilometres (770,000 sq mi), the nation is the fifth largest country in the Americas by total area and the 13th largest independent state in the world. With an estimated population of over 120 million people, the country is the eleventh most populous state and the most populous Spanish-speaking state in the world, while being the second most populous nation in Latin America after Brazil. Mexico is a federation comprising 31 states and Mexico City, a special federal entity that is also the capital city and its most populous city. Other metropolises in the state include Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, Toluca, Tijuana and León.

The Río Verde is a river in the state of Oaxaca in Mexico. It is formed by the confluence of the Atoyaquillo and Colorado Rivers near the village of Santiago Ixtayutla and flows south to its mouth at El Azufre on the Pacific Ocean, on the western border of Lagunas de Chacahua National Park. Its major tributary is the Atoyac, which drains the Oaxaca Valley and flows into the Río Verde at Paso de la Reina, where a proposal to build a large hydroelectric dam project has been opposed by local communities. The combined length of the Atoyac and lower Verde rivers is 342 kilometres (213 mi) and the river system as a whole drains a watershed of 18,812 square kilometres (7,263 sq mi), which has a mean natural surface runoff of 6,046 hm3 (2.135×1011 cu ft) per year. The watershed covers almost a fifth of Oaxaca state and is home to over a third of its population, and faces serious degradation issues as a result of pollution and overexploitation.

During 1984's Hurricane Odile, eighteen passengers and three crewman drowned in flooding on the Atoyac River. [2]

Hurricane Odile (1984) Category 2 Pacific hurricane in 1984

Hurricane Odile was the second of three tropical storms to make landfall in Mexico during the 1984 Pacific hurricane season. The fifteenth named storm and twelfth hurricane of the active season, it developed from a tropical disturbance about 185 miles (300 km) south of Acapulco on September 17. Curving towards the northwest, Odile became a Category 1 hurricane on September 19. The tropical cyclone reached its peak intensity with winds of 105 mph (165 km/h) two days later; however, Hurricane Odile began to weaken as moved erratically it encountered less favorable conditions and was downgraded to a tropical storm shortly before making landfall northwest of Zihuatanejo. Over land, the storm rapidly weakened, and dissipated on September 23. The storm caused significant rainfall accumulations of 24.73 inches (628.1 mm) in Southern Mexico, resulting in severe damage to tourism resorts. Flooding from Odile resulted in the evacuation of 7,000 people, 21 deaths, and the damage of about 900 homes.

See also

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Lagunas de Chacahua National Park

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El Corte River river in Mexico

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According to the Mexican government agency Conapo, Oaxaca is the third most economically marginalized states in Mexico. The state has 3.3% of the population but produces only 1.5% of the GNP. The main reason for this is the lack of infrastructure and education, especially in the interior of the state outside of the capital. Eighty percent of the state’s municipalities do not meet federal minimums for housing and education. Most development projects are planned for the capital and the surrounding area. Little has been planned for the very rural areas and the state lacks the resources to implement them. The largest sector of Oaxaca’s economy is agriculture, mostly done communally in ejidos or similar arrangements. About 31% of the population is employed in agriculture, about 50% in commerce and services and 22% in industry. The commerce sector dominates the gross domestic product at 65.4%, followed by industry/mining at 18.9% and agriculture at 15.7%.

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Tropical Storm Trudy (2014)

Tropical Storm Trudy was a short-lived tropical cyclone in October 2014 that caused significant flooding in southern Mexico. The storm originated from an area of low pressure associated with a monsoon trough near Central America in early October. A slow-moving system, the low eventually consolidated into a tropical depression on October 17 near the Mexican coastline. Favorable environmental conditions aided rapid development of Trudy. Within 15 hours of its designation, an eye formed over the storm's center. Trudy ultimately achieved its peak as a strong tropical storm with 65 mph (100 km/h) winds as it made landfall just southeast of Marquelia, Mexico. The region's mountainous terrain quickly weakened Trudy and the cyclone dissipated early on October 19. Though the cyclone dissipated, its remnant energy later contributed to the formation of Tropical Storm Hanna in the Atlantic.

References

  1. "Medio Físico" [Geography]. Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México Estado de Oaxaca (in Spanish). Mexico: Instituto Nacional para el Federalismo y el Desarrollo Municipal. 2009. Retrieved August 15, 2010.
  2. "Dateline: Mexico; Mexican stock market hits all time high". United Press International. September 26, 1984.