(Puerto Vallarta) The dangerous hurricane Lidia was downgraded to category two out of five on the Saffir-Simpson scale after making landfall in Mexico on Tuesday afternoon, announced the National Hurricane Center (NHC), established in the United States.
According to the NHC, the hurricane was located at 11 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, 50 km from the resort town of Puerto Vallarta, in the western state of Jalisco, and was accompanied by continuous winds of 165 km /h.
Formed over the Pacific Ocean, Lidia made landfall at 5:50 p.m. local time (7:50 p.m. Eastern time) while classified as category four, with winds of 220 km/h, and was described as “extremely dangerous” by the meteorological services.
The hurricane is expected to “rapidly lose strength” overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday as it moves toward northeastern Mexico, the NHC report adds. This organization had previously reported torrential rains, likely to cause flooding and mudslides, and violent and dangerous waves on the shore.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez asked residents in affected areas to stay home. He also recalled that nearly 6,000 soldiers were deployed to help the population.
PHOTO ULISES RUIZ, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
However, the beaches of Puerto Vallarta were still crowded with tourists late in the morning, even though the sky was starting to cloud over.
“We need to take refuge in safe places, move away from low-lying areas, streams, rivers and coasts,” he wrote on X.
” Caught off guard ”
In Puerto Vallarta, a city of 220,000 inhabitants where many Mexican and foreign tourists were still enjoying the beach on Tuesday morning, hundreds of people took shelter from the heavy rains, while businesses barricaded their storefronts with signs. Of wood.
“I was going to go home, but it was too far. There is no more transport, it took me by surprise,” Herson Rodriguez, 35, sports trainer and nutritionist, told AFP.
Guillermo Lozano was the last stroller on the Puerto Vallarta promenade before the storm arrived. “Fewer precautions were taken this time,” he believes, judging the reaction of the authorities too late, which has saturated public transport in the port.
Schools in the area have suspended classes and businesses have been asked to close from 2 p.m. local time (4 p.m. Eastern).
“Everything that does not have an emergency mission must be closed. We also invite the population of the risk area to evacuate and take shelter,” said Gerardo Alonzo Castillon, director of Civil Protection and Fire of Puerto Vallarta.
According to the Mexican Meteorological Service, the most affected areas are expected to extend from the state of Colima (west) to that of Nayarit (northwest), where 150 to 250 mm of rain are expected.
The population of the three affected states was asked to take precautions, take refuge in temporary shelters and move away from the coasts.
Mexico is hit by hurricanes every year on both its Pacific and Atlantic coasts, generally between May and November.
On Monday, a tropical storm, named Max, affected the state of Guerrero (south), causing the death of two people, according to regional authorities. Its passage caused floods: a breeder drowned “while trying to save his livestock” and another person died in his vehicle. According to AFP images, people had to take refuge on the roofs of their houses surrounded by water.