Hurricane Patricia early yesterday pushed inland over a mountainous region of small hamlets in western Mexico, weakening from its record-breaking strength, but still powerful as it dumped torrential rains that authorities warned could cause deadly floods and mudslides.
Patricia, which peaked as the strongest hurricane on record in the western hemisphere, made landfall on Friday in a sparsely populated stretch of Mexico’s Pacific coast as a Category 5 storm, avoiding direct hits on the resort city of Puerto Vallarta and major port city of Manzanillo.
There were early reports of some flooding and landslides, but no word of fatalities or major damage as the storm moved over inland mountains overnight. TV news reports from the coast showed toppled trees and lampposts and inundated streets. Milenio TV carried footage of cars and buses being swept by floodwaters in the state of Jalisco.
Photo: NOAA handout via Reuters
“The first reports confirm that the damage has been less than those expected from a hurricane of this magnitude,” Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said in a taped address late on Friday.
However, he added that “we cannot yet let our guard down.”
Patricia weakened to a Category 1 hurricane yesterday morning, with maximum sustained winds of 120kph, and was expected to dissipate over Mexico’s inland mountains, becoming a tropical storm later in the day. Its center was about 80km southwest of Zacatecas, Mexico.
Tourist Brandie Galle of Grants Pass, Oregon, said she had been sheltered with other guests in a ballroom with boarded-up windows at the Hard Rock Hotel in Puerto Vallarta. When the city was not feeling any major effects from the storm two hours after landfall, workers let them out to eat at a hotel restaurant.
“They said it looked like the storm had hit below us,” she said. “Everyone is starting to perk up a little bit, but still kind of on edge waiting to see what’s going to happen with the storm.”
Galle said some guests desperate to leave had earlier paid US$400 for taxis to drive them the 200km to the inland city of Guadalajara.
The airports in Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo and Tepic were closed on Friday, but officials yesterday announced an air bridge to ferry stranded travelers out of areas hit by the storm.
Residents and tourists had hunkered down in shelters and homes along a coastal stretch dotted with sleepy fishing villages and gleaming resorts. In Puerto Vallarta, residents had reinforced homes with sandbags and shop windows with boards and tape, and hotels rolled up beachfront restaurants.
The Sokols, a family of five from suburban Detroit, Michigan, were supposed to fly out of Puerto Vallarta on Friday, but ended up spending hours in a shelter at a university after their flight was canceled. By night they were back where they began: at their hotel, and no worse for wear.
“It’s amazing it went from the worst in history to just some heavy rain,” Susanna Sokol said, adding that at least the hurricane gave her daughter a birthday to remember.
“It was pretty stressful for a while,” Tom Sokol said. “I felt guilty for taking my kids here.”
Patricia on Tuesday last week formed suddenly as a tropical storm and quickly strengthened to a hurricane. Within 30 hours it had grown to a Category 5 storm, catching many off guard with its rapid growth.
By Friday it was the most powerful recorded hurricane to hit the hemisphere, with a central pressure of 880 millibars and maximum sustained winds of 325kph, according to the US’ National Hurricane Center.
Patricia’s power while still out at sea was comparable to that of Typhoon Haiyan, which left more than 7,300 dead or missing in the Philippines two years ago, according to the UN’s World Meteorological Organization. More than 4 million people were displaced and more than 1 million homes were destroyed or damaged in 44 provinces in the central Visayas region, a large cluster of islands.
Mexican officials declared a state of emergency in dozens of municipalities in Colima, Nayarit and Jalisco states, and schools were closed. Many residents bought supplies ahead of Patricia’s arrival. Authorities opened hundreds of shelters and announced plans to shut off electricity as a safety precaution.
One of the worst Pacific hurricanes to ever hit Mexico slammed into the same region, in Colima state, in October 1959, killing at least 1,500 people, according to the Mexican National Center for Prevention of Disasters.
US Department of State spokesman Mark Toner said tens of thousands of US citizens were believed to be vacationing or living in areas likely to be affected by the storm.
Patricia also threatens Texas, with forecasters saying that even after the storm breaks up, its tropical moisture is likely to feed heavy rains already soaking the state.
The US National Weather Service said a flash-flood watch would be in effect through today for Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio.
A coastal flood warning was in effect through Friday night in Corpus Christi. Galveston was under a coastal flood advisory until yesterday evening.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in