Hurricane Patricia threatens Mexico as one of strongest storms ever
The strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere is hours from striking near Mexico's biggest port and a popular holiday resort, threatening catastrophic damage to property and posing danger to the lives of anyone caught in its path.
The Category 5 Hurricane Patricia strengthened into one of the most powerful storms in history as it headed toward Mexico's Pacific Coast.
The World Meteorological Organisation has compared the storm to 2013's Typhoon Haiyan, which killed thousands in the Philippines.
Mexico's Pacific coast braces for the onslaught of Hurricane Patricia, potentially the strongest storm to ever hit the Western Hemisphere.
Patricia was expected to make landfall on Friday afternoon or early evening local time (Saturday lunchtime NZT), the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said.
Tourists watch as waves hit the shore in Acapulco. REUTERS/Claudio Vargas
An employee boards up the windows of a restaurant as Hurricane Patricia approaches the Pacific beach resort of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Image:Reuters/Henry Romero
The Category 5 Hurricane Patricia strengthened into one of the most powerful storms in history as it headed toward Mexico's Pacific Coast.
The World Meteorological Organisation has compared the storm to 2013's Typhoon Haiyan, which killed thousands in the Philippines.
Patricia was expected to make landfall on Friday afternoon or early evening local time (Saturday lunchtime NZT), the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said.
The "extremely dangerous" Patricia would hit Mexico with life-threatening mudslides and flash floods and may reach into Texas with flooding rain as a record-setting year for tropical systems continues, according to America's National Weather Service.
NASA
Hurricane Patricia approaches the western coast of Mexico in this NASA handout satellite image.
About 400,000 people were considered "vulnerable," civil protection official Jose Maria Tapia told reporters in Mexico City.
"With this type of wind the damage is catastrophic; there are very few structures that withstand this" strength of hurricane, Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist and spokesman for NHC, said from Miami.
"The trees are long gone, we're talking building ripped off foundations."
On Friday loudspeakers along the shore of the resort of Puerto Vallarta, popular with US and Canadian tourists, blared orders to evacuate hotels as a light rain fell and a slight breeze ruffled palm trees. The streets emptied as police sirens wailed.
Hotel workers said efforts had begun to start evacuating guests, but others said they were still waiting to be told where to send them. When Reuters visited one of the city's designated shelters, a dilapidated-looking building in a low-lying area, there were still no evacuees to be found.
Mexico's communications and transport minister, Gerardo Ruiz Esparza, said the hurricane is of "colossal" proportions, and urged people to protect themselves.
Local schools were closed and some business owners were busy boarding and taping up windows.
Walking his pitbull along the Puerto Vallarta boardwalk, Jesus Lopez, 60, knew how bad things could get, having lived through Hurricane Kenna, which led to evacuations of more than 20,000 people in the resort town when it crashed into Mexico's Pacific coast in 2002.
"We're worried about this hurricane because we know what can happen, and it's nothing good," he said, pointing out the low-lying areas where many of the city's inhabitants live.
Edgar Ibarra, a port official in Puerto Vallarta, said he expected the storm to start causing trouble around 8-9pm eastern time (1-2pm Saturday NZT) on Friday, making landfall near the small fishing town of Barra de Navidad.
An employee boards up the windows of a restaurant as Hurricane Patricia approaches the Pacific beach resort of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Image:Reuters/Henry Romero
'CATASTROPHIC' STORM
The NHC said the damage potential was "catastrophic."
The storm grew at an "incredible rate" in the past 12 hours, the World Meteorological Organisation said, and the NHC reported on Friday morning maximum sustained winds of about 321kmh as it moved north at 16kmh.
"The winds are enough to get a plane in the air and keep it flying," WMO spokeswoman Clare Nullis told a UN briefing in Geneva, likening it to Typhoon Haiyan.
Hurricane Katrina, which killed more than 1,800 people, was a Category 3 storm when it reached landfall. While it's unclear what Patricia's wind speed will be when it hits land, it's forecast to be Category 5 level.
Patricia tops the list of the most powerful storms recorded anywhere in the world since 1970, including Typhoon Haiyan, which killed more than 6,000 people in the Philippines in 2013, said Phil Klotzbach, lead author of the Colorado State University seasonal hurricane forecast.
The strongest storm ever recorded was Cyclone Tip which hit Japan in 1979.
Patricia is just this year's latest record-breaking storm. Typhoon Koppu flooded the Philippines starting late last week and claimed about 40 lives, while Hurricane Joaquin sank the container ship El Faro in the Bahamas at the beginning of the month, killing 33 crew members.
Tourists try to catch the last flight out of Puerto Vallata at the city's international airport as Hurricane Patricia approached the Pacific beach resort. Image: Reuters/Henry Romero
The US government issued an advisory urging its nationals to steer clear of beaches and rough seas and to take shelter as instructed by Mexican officials.
- Agencies
None of the major installations of Mexican state oil company Pemex lie in the projected path of the storm.
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