Patricia, a Category 5 storm, has made a landfall on Mexico’s Pacific Coast with sustained wind speeds reaching 380 km per hour. Thousands of people have been evacuated as life-threatening flooding and mud-slides are feared along the hurricane’s path.
24 October 2015
Mexico’s National Meteorological Service has downgraded Hurricane Patricia to a Category 1. The storm is currently centered about 80 km south-southwest of the state of Zacatecas.
Hurricane Patricia has weakened to become a category 2 storm, Mexico’s National Meteorological Service has stated.
Mexico’s National Meteorological Service has downgraded the center of Hurricane Patricia to category 4 as it continues towards the towns of Talpa de Allende, Ayutla, Chicken Coop, Atengo and Mixtlán in Jalisco.
This footage shows the latest destruction wreaked by Hurricane Patricia as it whirled its way through the coastal town of Barra de Navidad.
With Patricia having moved inland, the coastal threat is decreasing, according to the Miami-based center. A forecast for strong and damaging winds as well as very heavy rainfall remains, which could lead to “Life-threatening flash floods and mudslides in the Mexican states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, Michoacan and Guerrero through Saturday,” the center said.
A hurricane warning is still in effect for the Pacific coast of Mexico from San Blas to Punta San Telmo. However, the NHC forecast predicts that Patricia will become a tropical storm by Saturday morning.
The NHC has reported that Patricia has weakened, but remains “an extremely dangerous major" hurricane over southwestern Mexico.
Puerto Vallarta, the resort town on Mexico’s Pacific coast, had to evacuate hotels. Police helped with the evacuation orders. A total of 15,000 domestic and foreign tourists have been evacuated from the city, according to officials.
RT talked to a senior science writer for Climate Central, Brian Kahn, who explained why and how Patricia grew from just a storm to a Category 5 hurricane, the strongest ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere.
This video allegedly shows flooding in the state of Colima.
The Miami-based NHC has said the “extremely dangerous hurricane” is continuing its way farther inland over southwestern Mexico.
Earlier in the evening, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly posted this image of Patricia from space.
A shot of the Manzanillo coast from a higher vantage point.
Another video shows waves plunging onto buildings on the coast, with water surging past and into the streets.
Footage shows large waves moving closer and closer to buildings on the Manzanillo coast.
23 October 2015
Designated as a Category 5 storm, the winds will be stronger than 155 miles per hour. Winds that powerful can bring catastrophic damage to homes, trees and power lines. After the storm, power is likely to be out for week, even months, and recovery will be slow.
Scientists told the New York Times that powerful storms like Patricia could lead to the rating scale to be expanded beyond just five categories.
Southwestern Mexico is a popular tourist destination, dotted with fishing villages and beach resorts, including Puerto Vallarta. The nearest major city is Manzanillo, an important shipping port. The last Mexican census in 2010, according to the Associated Press, said there were more than 7.3 million inhabitants in Jalisco State and over 250,000 people living in Puerto Vallarta.
This is what the coast looks like in Manzanillo, with huge waves pounding the shore.
The sound as gusts of wind blow by in Manzanillo.
More footage of powerful winds.
Here is the scene in Barra de Navidad, a town in the state of Jalisco.
Footage shows incredibly strong winds in Manzanillo.
The hurricane, with an eye measuring 10 kilometers in diameter, is expected to hit the vicinity of Tenacatita and Christmas Cuestecomate bays near the towns of El Estrecho, La Manzanilla and Melaque.
Meteorologist are warning that Patricia winds are strong enough to lift vehicles.
Satellite imagery making the rounds online shows that Patricia is roughly three times the size of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated cities like New Orleans in the United States in 2005.
The country’s National Meteorological Service has advised that residents along Mexico’s Pacific coast “not come out,” as Patricia hit the state of Jalisco.
Large, powerful waves pounded the shore near a resort of Manzanillo as Patricia neared.
As Hurricane Patricia arrives in Mexico, this was the scene beforehand in Guadalajara.