Storm Nate dissipated on Sunday as it moved farther inland across the coffee and sugar growing state of Veracruz along the Gulf of Mexico. Nate, which could still dump heavy rain over Veracruz, had turned into a remnant low, the Miami-based U.S. National Hurricane Center said, and it was discontinuing warnings. State oil monopoly Pemex said it had rescued seven out of 10 contract workers who had been missing since Thursday after evacuating a rig in the Gulf of Mexico due to bad weather. The workers, including four Mexicans and two Americans, were rescued in the Bay of Campeche, but one Bangladeshi died later in a hospital. Two other workers were found dead and one remained missing, Pemex said. The depression was located 75 miles west southwest of Tuxpan, with maximum sustained winds of 30 miles per hour, the hurricane center said in its 10:00 p.m. CDT/0500 GMT advisory. It is moving west northwest at 8 mph, it said.
Storm Nate dissipated on Sunday as it moved farther inland across the coffee and sugar growing state of Veracruz along the Gulf of Mexico.
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Nate, which could still dump heavy rain over Veracruz, had turned into a remnant low, the Miami-based U.S. National Hurricane Center said, and it was discontinuing warnings.
State oil monopoly Pemex said it had rescued seven out of 10 contract workers who had been missing since Thursday after evacuating a rig in the Gulf of Mexico due to bad weather.
The workers, including four Mexicans and two Americans, were rescued in the Bay of Campeche, but one Bangladeshi died later in a hospital. Two other workers were found dead and one remained missing, Pemex said.
The depression was located 75 miles west southwest of Tuxpan, with maximum sustained winds of 30 miles per hour, the hurricane center said in its 10:00 p.m. CDT/0500 GMT advisory. It is moving west northwest at 8 mph, it said.
Veracruz is one of Mexico's top producers of coffee and sugar and any flooding could damage recently planted crops. High moisture also can cause fungus in coffee beans. Flooding and landslides could affect transportation routes and delay exports.
Sugar crops in Veracruz were greatly damaged last year in an intense tropical storm season.
The oil-exporting port of Cayo Arcas remained closed along with two other smaller ports. Dos Bocas reopened to shipping earlier on Sunday after four days of inactivity.
Pemex evacuated 473 workers from five sea platforms as a precaution but had not said if they had started to return to work. Nate had cut Mexican oil production by 178,800 barrels a day as of Friday.
Photo shows a fisherman removing water from his boat after the passage of the Tropical Storm Nate in Gutierrez Zamora in the state of Veracruz September 11, 2011. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso
Article continues: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/12/us-storm-nate-idUSTRE7892T420110912
