Category 5 Hurricane Patricia To Make Landfall In Mexico

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Category Five Hurricane Patricia, with maximum sustained winds of 325 kilometers (200 miles) per hour, is moving toward Mexico’s Pacific coast on Friday, and the country is bracing for a potential catastrophe.

The hurricane is expected to make a landfall somewhere between the major port of Manzanillo in Colima state and Jalisco state’s tourist resort of Puerto Vallartlater later Friday.

AFP reported that Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong told Radio Formula that, “It’s a devastating hurricane, the biggest since we can record hurricanes, and this is why we have to take extreme precautions.”

The US National Hurricane Center said on its website that Patricia was, “the strongest hurricane on record in the National Hurricane Center’s area of responsibility which includes the Atlantic and the eastern North Pacific.

The authorities are conducting evacuations, closing ports and school as the storm surge is expected to cause coastal flooding around the center of the landfall.

The National Water Commission said that Jalisco, Michoacan, Colima and Nayarit are expected to get the equivalent of 40 percent of their annual rainfall in the next 48 hours.

Hurricane Beatriz Hits Mexico – Photos

Hurricane Beatriz hit Mexico’s Pacific coast on Tuesday.

It is a Category 1 hurricane.

The popular tourist ports of Acapulco and Manzanillo were closed ahead of the hurricane’s arrival.

There are hurricane warnings along the Mexican coast from Lazaro Cardenas northwestward to Cabo Corrientes. 

The Mexican government said the coastal states of Guerrero, Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco should prepare for 10- to 13-foot (3- to 4-meter) waves and 6 to 12 inches of rain.

A storm surge was expected to cause coastal flooding in the hurricane warning area.

Storm surge happens when the hurricane caused the sea to rise up higher than the ordinary sea level.

It can cause lots of damages especially if it happens during the high tide.

Hurricane Beatriz is the second hurricane of the 2011 Pacific season.

The first was Hurricane Adrian, which formed earlier this month.

This is a disaster as the heavy rains can cause floods and strong winds can damage buildings as well as causing very high waves.

A family prepares to leave Miramar beach after having a picnic before the arrival of Tropical Storm Beatriz in the Pacific resort city of Manzanillo, Mexico, Monday June 20, 2011. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Beatriz is expected to become a hurricane Monday night or early Tuesday, brushing over Mexico's southwestern coast later that day before heading back out to sea. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini)

Cars swept into the ocean by high waves caused by the approach of Tropical Storm Beatriz are pictured by the shore in Acapulco June 20, 2011. REUTERS/Stringer

People stand next to a car swept out to the shore after high waves caused by the approach of Tropical Storm Beatriz broke inland in Acapulco June 20, 2011. Tropical Storm Beatriz drenched parts of Mexico's Pacific coast with heavy rains on Monday and has strengthened into a hurricane, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. REUTERS/Stringer

A person walks past an upturned car by the shore after the vehicle was swept into the ocean by high waves caused by the approach of Tropical Storm Beatriz in Acapulco June 20, 2011. REUTERS/Stringer.

An upturned car is pictured by the shore after it was swept into the ocean by high waves caused by the approach of Tropical Storm Beatriz in Acapulco June 20, 2011. REUTERS/Stringer