A new Category 4 hurricane, driven by winds exceeding 200 km/h, threatens Acapulco, the tourist capital of the Pacific on the west coast of Mexico, the American National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Tuesday.
The NHC fears “an extremely dangerous category 4 hurricane” when it makes landfall. Named Otis, the hurricane was at 9 p.m. GMT in the Pacific Ocean, 185 km south of Acapulco.
Schools were closed by order of the local government in Guerrero state, where Acapulco is located.
Governor Evelyn Salgado insisted on the importance of coordination between the authorities and the armed forces for “the well-being of residents and avoiding risks.”
Last week, Hurricane Norma killed three people a little further north in the state of Sinaloa. Norma made landfall twice, first in the Baja California peninsula, then in the state of Sinaloa.
Between the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico is exposed to hurricanes during the season which runs from May to October-November. A dozen depressions per year are likely to turn into more or less devastating hurricanes depending on their point of entry.
The most powerful ever recorded, Patricia, in October 2015, with winds of 325 km/h, however, only caused material damage because it entered the territory through an uninhabited mountainous area.
In September 2013, Hurricane Ingrid in the Gulf and Tropical Storm Manuel in the Pacific hit Mexico simultaneously.
“Their interaction constituted a historic phenomenon which had not occurred since 1958,” according to the authorities who had recorded 157 deaths including victims of landslides.