Hurricane Patricia, one of strongest storms ever, pounds Mexico

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico Hurricane Patricia, one of the most powerful storms on record,
struck Mexico's Pacific coast on Friday with destructive winds that tore down trees, moved cars
and forced thousands of people to flee homes and beachfront resorts.
Hours after making landfall, the storm weakened but still packed winds of 130 miles per hour.
There were no reported casualties and officials said the damage might not be as catastrophic as
feared.
Patricia slammed into a stretch of sparsely populated coastline near the popular beach getaway
of Puerto Vallarta, where 15,000 tourists were evacuated to avoid torrential rain and potentially
lethal winds.
There was flooding in parts of the city, though it escaped the worst of the immensely powerful
storm.
Visitors and residents weathered the hurricane's onslaught in emergency shelters hoping it would
not do as much damage as the last storm of this magnitude, Typhoon Haiyan, which killed
thousands of people in the Philippines in 2013.
While still out to sea as a Category 5 hurricane, Patricia blew furious winds of 200 mph.
"The winds are really strong. It's amazing, even the cars are moving," said Laura Barajas, a 30year-old hotel worker from the port of Manzanillo, close to where the storm reached land.
Officials said the port emerged relatively unscathed, suffering only minor damage, such as fallen
trees.
Weather experts said the storm could have a catastrophic impact, but initial reports suggested
that Patricia had left more of an expensive mess than outright disaster in its wake.
Before reaching land, Patricia was the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Western
Hemisphere.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center downgraded Patricia to a Category 4 storm but said it
remained an "extremely dangerous major hurricane." It could weaken to a tropical storm by
Saturday morning and a depression by the afternoon as its winds are sapped by the mountains of
western Mexico.
In Puerto Vallarta, the heart of a string of resorts that range from low-end mega hotels to
exclusive villas attracting tech billionaires and pop stars, loudspeakers had blared orders to
evacuate hotels ahead of Patricia's arrival.
The streets emptied as police sirens wailed in anticipation of Patricia, which gathered strength
suddenly on Thursday night.
"Whichever way you turn, there's debris," said Juan Michel, 36, a hotel manager in the resort of
Barra de Navidad to the northwest of Manzanillo, who was taking cover from Patricia with 13
others. "We've never seen anything like this."

Writing from 249 miles above Earth on the International Space Station, U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly
tweeted an imposing image of the giant storm along with the message: "Stay safe below,
Mexico."
President Barack Obama said the United States was standing by to help Mexico.
EVACUATIONS
Officials said 15,000 domestic and foreign tourists were evacuated from Puerto Vallarta.
The government warned that ash and other material from the volcano of Colima, about 130 miles
from Puerto Vallarta, could combine with massive rainfall to trigger "liquid cement"-style
mudflows that could envelop nearby villages.
Nearby residents were later evacuated, local media said.
The storm hit the coast near Punta Perula, where fear among residents was palpable before
impact. Shortly afterwards, local hotel worker Armando Cervantes said the winds were high.
"I'm calm, but I still haven't been able to talk to my family," the 17-year-old Cervantes said by
phone.
Security officials in Puerto Vallarta later allowed some 200 tourists to return to their hotels.
Martha Medgers, 67, from Sarasota, Fla., was one of them.
"Praise the lord, we're going back! The storm just isn't that bad here, and all I want right now is a
nice comfy bed," she said.
As Patricia was bearing down on the coast, traffic stretched way out of Puerto Vallarta en route to
Guadalajara, Mexico's second-biggest city and around five hours drive inland.
The storm's strength gave it a fearsome potential.
"The winds are enough to get a plane in the air and keep it flying," WMO spokeswoman Clare
Nullis told a U.N. briefing in Geneva early on Friday, likening Patricia to Typhoon Haiyan.
That storm killed over 6,300 people and wiped out or damaged nearly everything in its path on
Nov. 8, 2013, destroying around 90 percent of the city of Tacloban.
The strongest storm ever recorded was Cyclone Tip which hit Japan in 1979.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/weather/hurricane-patricia-one-strongest-storms-ever-poundsmexico
Hurricane Patricia Makes Landfall In Mexico
The surf breaks in Acapulco, Mexico, on Friday as the record-beating Hurricane Patricia barrels
toward its Pacific Coast.
Claudio Vargas/Reuters /Landov

Updated at 6:05 a.m.

Hurricane Patricia has calmed to a Category 1 storm overnight, with maximum wind speeds of 75
mph. Still no fatalities or significant damage has been reported.
As The Associated Press reports, Patricia is "expected to dissipate over Mexico's inland
mountains, becoming a tropical storm later in the day. Its center was about 50 miles (80
kilometers) southwest of Zacatecas."
The AP adds:
"The first reports confirm that the damage has been less than those expected from a hurricane of
this magnitude," President Enrique Pena Nieto said in a taped address late Friday. He added,
however, that "we cannot yet let our guard down."
Updated at 11:35 p.m.
Hurricane Patricia, one of the most powerful hurricanes in history, made landfall on Mexico's
Pacific coast Friday night.
The National Hurricane Center said it hit land with wind speeds of 165 mph lower than the
day's earlier record-breaking speeds, but still an "extremely dangerous" storm.
The storm struck Cuixmala in the southwestern state of Jalisco, bringing with it torrential rains
and raging winds. Residents and tourists have sought shelter along the port city of Manzanillo
and Puerto Vallarta, where many people reinforced homes, shops and hotels.
The "potentially catastrophic" Category 5 storm prompted mass evacuations in Mexico's Pacific
Coast. Residents who were evacuated from their homes are pictured at the University of Puerto
Vallarta, which is being used as a shelter in the resort city.
Henry Romero/Reuters/Landov
As it heads north over the mountains, the storm is expected to weaken and dissipate by
Saturday, reports The Associated Press:
"There were early reports of some flooding and landslides, but no word of fatalities or major
damage as the storm moved over inland mountains after nightfall. TV news reports from the
coast showed some toppled trees and lampposts and inundated streets.
"Patricia's projected path headed over a mountainous region dotted with isolated hamlets that
are at risk for dangerous mudslides and flash floods, and where communications can be sketchy."
Though Patricia is a Category 5, it is not very big in terms of diameter, as NPR's Russell
Lewis previously reported:
"Patricia is a 'small' storm the most powerful winds don't extend very far beyond its eye,
perhaps only about 30 or 40 miles. It's similar in size to Hurricane Andrew, a devastating but
compact hurricane that walloped South Florida in 1992."
The storm prompted mass evacuation in Mexico, as NPR's Bill Chappell reportedearlier Friday:

"The Category 5 storm has forced evacuations in Puerto Vallarta and other areas along Mexico's
coast. Forecasters say that in addition to destructive winds, Patricia could bring dangerous flash
flooding and mudslides.
"Fears about the hurricane's possible impact forced an entire wedding party to leave the Villa
Amor hotel in Sayulita, Mexico, north of Puerto Vallarta, in the early hours of Friday morning,
according to the hotel's general manager, Norma Adams:
" 'I am sitting here at the front desk, and I see nobody on the beach,' she told All Things
Considered. 'Our fishermen have brought the boats up all the way to the top of the sandy area.
They also said "No, it's not gonna hit" but seeing them pull the boats up, you know
something's coming.' "

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/10/23/451276950/hurricane-patricia-makeslandfall-in-mexico