The Foreign Relations Department said 95 people had died nationwide in Thursday’s quake. Then Chiapas state civil defense director Luis Manuel Garcia Moreno said the number of deaths there had risen from 15 to 16.

Oaxaca Gov. Alejandro Murat said in a statement that the toll in his state increased to 76, and officials have reported that four people were killed in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco.

As funerals continued for the disaster’s victims, teams of soldiers and federal police with shovels and sledgehammers fanned out to help demolish damaged buildings across the southern city of Juchitan, which was hit particularly hard.

Volunteers, many of them teens from religious or community groups in surrounding towns that came through in better shape, turned out in force to distribute water and clothing or lend a hand.

At a leafy technological school turned into a shelter, a couple hundred people have been sleeping in classrooms or on thin mattresses laid out under trees since the quake last week.

Everyone cited fear of aftershocks as their reason for staying, including those whose homes were still standing. But Juchitan awoke Monday after its first night without an aftershock, and that was enough for some to contemplate going home.

The military served them a breakfast of eggs and beans before most set off to work on repairing their homes or make sure their belongings weren’t being stolen.

Later in the day at least one more tremor was felt.

The previous day in Ixtaltepec, about 20 minutes north of Juchitan, residents directed heavy machinery operators clearing rubble while others did what they could with pry bars and rope.

Benito Chinas’ house and the small store he ran out front were leveled by the quake, and his daughter traveled from her home in Veracruz to help out. She was organizing what little remained of her father’s possessions — a few bottles of cooking oil — under a tarp to protect it from rain.

“Everything that I worked so long for is gone,” said Chinas, 83. “I don’t have the strength anymore, and at my age how am I going to start over?”

Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department said the quake and Hurricane Katia, which struck the Gulf coast state of Veracruz on Friday, have forced the country to withdraw an offer of aid for Houston after it was hit by Hurricane Harvey in August. At least two deaths were blamed on Katia.

The U.S. had thanked Mexico for the offer and said only logistical aid was needed. The Mexican Red Cross said 33 of its volunteers were helping out in Houston.

Mexico said it would now dedicate relief efforts to its own disasters.

About 5,000 homes in Chiapas were destroyed by the quake, and Murat said about 11,000 homes were damaged or destroyed in Oaxaca.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/death-toll-mexico-quake-rises-95-49768115

The post Death toll from southern Mexico’s big earthquake rises to 96 first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Water levels are already rising on the coast of the US state where a huge storm surge is expected.

Some 6.3 million people had been told to evacuate, but the state governor said on Saturday it was now too late to leave for anyone remaining.

At least 24 people have died after Irma earlier hit several Caribbean islands.

With maximum sustained winds of 120mph (193km/h), Irma hurricane has now weakened to a category three hurricane after making landfall in Cuba’s north-east late on Friday, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) says in its latest advisory at 03:00 GMT on Sunday.

But Irma is expected to strengthen and will remain a powerful hurricane as it approaches Florida, the NHC says.

It warns that a “life-threatening storm surge” is expected in the Florida Keys – a chain of small islands in Florida’s south – and also the west coast of Florida.

What is happening in Florida?
Irma is predicted to hit the coast on Sunday morning, but the outer bands are already affecting the south of the state and central Miami is being lashed by heavy rain.

The Florida Keys have suffered some minor damage and are expected to bear the brunt of the storm in the coming hours.

The head of emergencies agency Fema, Brock Long, told CNN there were “no safe areas within the Keys”.

“You put your life in your own hands by not evacuating,” he added.

“If you’re in an evacuation zone, you’ve got to get to a shelter need to get to a shelter… there’s not many hours left”, Florida Governor Rick Scott warned residents.

“The winds are coming, there is not gonna be a lot of time now to be able to drive very far.”

Thousands of people on the mainland are currently without electricity.

The western Gulf coast is expected to be worst affected, with cities such as Tampa and St Petersburg in the path of the storm.

The Tampa Bay area, with a population of about three million, has not been hit by a major hurricane since 1921.

Some 50,000 people have gone to shelters throughout the state, the governor said. Media reports say shelters in some areas have been filling up quickly and some people have been turned away.

Miami city and Broward county have imposed curfews to help clear the roads of traffic.

Which other areas have already been hit?

–Cuba: Officials have reported “significant damage”, without giving further details, but said there were no confirmed casualties yet, the AFP news agency reports

–St Martin and St Barthelemy: Six out of 10 homes on St Martin, an island shared between France and the Netherlands, now uninhabitable, French officials say. They said nine people had died and seven were missing in the French territories, while two are known to have died in Dutch Sint Maarten

–Turks and Caicos Islands: Widespread damage, although extent unclear

–Barbuda: The small island is said to be “barely habitable”, with 95% of the buildings damaged. Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne estimates reconstruction will cost $100m (£80m). One death has been confirmed

–Anguilla: Extensive damage with one person confirmed dead

–Puerto Rico: More than 6,000 residents of the US territory are in shelters and many more without power. At least three people have died

–British Virgin Islands:Widespread damage reported, and five dead

–US Virgin Islands: Damage to infrastructure was said to be widespread, with four deaths confirmed

–Haiti and the Dominican Republic: Both battered by the storm, but neither had as much damage as initially feared

What about Hurricanes Jose and Katia?
Another storm, Jose, further out in the Atlantic behind Irma, is now a category four hurricane, with winds of up to 145mph.

It is following a similar path to Irma and already hampering relief efforts in some of the worst affected areas.

Residents of Barbuda, left the island as Jose approached but it is no longer expected to hit.

However, hurricane warnings are in place for St Martin and St Barthelemy, both also hit by Irma.

Hurricane Katia, in the Gulf of Mexico, a category one storm with winds of up to 75mph, made landfall on the Mexican Gulf coast in the state of Veracruz late on Friday.

It has now weakened to a tropical depression.

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41216890

The post Hurricane Irma: Florida braces for storm arrival first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.