Heavy rainfall in Mexico has left at least 27 people dead and more missing, authorities said on Friday, as downpours triggered several landslides, cut off power in some municipalities and caused rivers to burst their banks.

Civil protection authorities in Hidalgo state reported 16 deaths and said at least 1,000 homes and hundreds of schools had been affected, Reuters reported. 

Puebla state Governor Alejandro Armenta said at least nine people had died due to incidents such as landslides and another five had been reported missing. Authorities reported two more deaths in Veracruz state.

“We are working to support the population, open roads and restore electrical services,” President Claudia Sheinbaum said in a post on X. She shared photos of emergency responders carrying supplies as they waded knee-deep in flooded streets.

A video from the Navy showed an officer searching for stranded people as he advanced down a street neck-deep in water in Poza Rica, where heavy rains and the flooding of the Cazones river brought much of Veracruz town under water.

The ministry of defense said it had deployed over 5,400 personnel to help monitor, evacuate and clean up affected areas.

Meanwhile, storms Raymond and Priscilla have been dumping rains on the Baja California peninsula and the country’s western Pacific seaboard.

Nearly 350,000 people have been evacuated from southern China as Typhoon Matmo made landfall on Sunday, bringing destructive winds, torrential rain, and widespread shutdowns across Guangdong and Hainan provinces.

According to the National Meteorological Centre (NMC), the storm — China’s 21st typhoon of the year — strengthened into a severe tropical system before striking the coast between Wuchuan in Guangdong and Wenchang in Hainan around midday.

The typhoon was packing winds of up to 151 km/h and moving northwest at about 25 km/h prompting authorities to issue a red alert, the highest level in the country’s four-tier weather warning system.

Local authorities reported that 347,000 residents were moved from high-risk and coastal zones as emergency teams scrambled to respond. More than 10,000 rescue workers have been deployed across Guangdong, local media reported.

Provincial deputy party secretary Meng Fanli urged officials to go into “battle mode” and prevent casualties as the storm struck during China’s National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays, when travel typically peaks.

The port city of Zhanjiang imposed a full shutdown on classes, businesses, and public transport. Similar lockdowns were enforced in parts of Hainan, including Haikou and Wenchang, where schools, ferry routes, and tourist attractions were closed.

All train services on Hainan Island were suspended Sunday, with limited resumption expected Monday. Flights to and from Haikou Meilan International Airport were also grounded overnight, while Hong Kong warned of significant flight disruptions — more than 100 flights affected, including 27 cancellations, according to the Airport Authority.

The Hong Kong Observatory said the storm was weakening as it moved away, though outer rainbands continued to bring squally showers and gusty winds. Residents were warned to avoid coastal areas and water activities.

Despite gradual weakening, authorities warned of up to 250 mm of rainfall in parts of Guangdong, Hainan, and Yunnan provinces, with potential for flash floods and landslides.

Typhoon Matmo’s impact follows weeks of extreme weather across East and Southeast Asia, including record rainfall and deadly floods in the Philippines earlier this week. As the storm tracks inland toward Yunnan and northern Vietnam, officials are maintaining high alert for secondary disasters.

Wildfires likely to have been made more frequent by climate change made significant contributions to air pollution last year, according to a report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Friday.

The World Health Organization says ambient air pollution causes 4.5 million premature deaths a year, and the WMO report for 2024 pointed to pollution hotspots in places that experienced intense fires such as the Amazon basin, Canada, Siberia and central Africa, Reuters reported.

As global warming driven mostly by fossil fuel emissions alters weather patterns, wildfires have become more frequent and extensive around the globe, adding to the airborne particles also produced by the burning of coal, oil, gas and wood as well as transport and farming.

“Wildfires are a big contributor to particle pollution and the problem is expected to increase as the climate warms, posing growing risks for infrastructure and ecosystems and human health,” the WMO said in a statement.

Deputy Secretary-General Ko Barrett added: “Climate change and air quality cannot be addressed in isolation. They must be tackled together in order to protect our planet, our communities, and our economies.”

Though the WMO report covers 2024, the WMO also said record wildfires in southern Europe this year had contributed to pollution across the continent.

However, there were some positive signs, with particle pollution in Eastern China falling thanks to reduction efforts.