Category 4 Hurricane Simon closes in on Mexico's Pacific coast
With winds of up to 155 mph, the storm was about 65 miles off Manzanillo. Residents of 24 municipalities were told to stay home, and the army and navy are on standby.
Archive image · Photo: Ale Ramos M / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Hurricane Simon strengthened into a Category 4 storm off Mexico's Pacific coast. According to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami, maximum sustained winds reached about 155 mph (250 km/h) on Saturday evening, with the centre roughly 65 miles (105 km) south-southwest of Manzanillo and moving slowly north. The forecast called for the hurricane to reach, or move just inland over, west-central Mexico on Sunday. A hurricane warning is in effect from Punta San Telmo to El Roblito and for the Islas Marías.
Laura Velázquez Alzúa, head of Mexico's national civil protection agency, said an impact was expected on Sunday morning between the municipalities of La Huerta and Tomatlán in Jalisco state. Residents of 24 municipalities in Jalisco, Colima, Michoacán and Nayarit were urged to suspend non-essential activities and stay home, and people in at-risk areas to move to temporary shelters. President Claudia Sheinbaum said the army's and navy's disaster plans had been activated.
The NHC warned of 10 to 20 inches of rain across parts of southwestern Mexico and up to 30 inches in parts of Michoacán, Colima and Jalisco. "This rainfall will produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in areas of steep terrain," the centre said. Jalisco cancelled Monday classes in 22 coastal municipalities, and businesses in Puerto Vallarta boarded up windows. The airline Volaris cancelled flights at five airports, including Puerto Vallarta and Colima.