» Thoughts, prayers are with family members in Mexico.
Sitting in Austin traffic Friday morning, looking at the gray clouds ahead, I wondered when the sky would finally burst open.
Then, for a brief second, I wondered if the lack of rain meant, by miraculous chance, that Hurricane Patricia could have slowed down enough to be less of a threat to Mexico’s Pacific coast. Other once-catastrophic hurricanes calmed before making landfall. The same could happen with Hurricane Patricia.
Wishful thinking, I know.
For thousands of Texans like myself with family and loved ones still living in Mexico, updates on Hurricane Patricia will be a priority through the weekend. Hurricane Patricia, according to the National Weather Service, by Friday had morphed into the most powerful tropical cyclone ever measured in the Western Hemisphere and was expected to hammer four Mexican coastal states: Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima and Michoacán. Connections to those states are deep in Texas and elsewhere in the U.S.
In 2013, most of the 322,000 Mexican migrants who headed to this country came from Jalisco, Michoacán and Guanajuato, collectively representing 26 percent of the northward migration, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
Small businesses in Central Texas, including interior Mexican restaurants, proudly take their names from this particular coastal region of Mexico. A slew are named after the tourist port — and my family’s hometown — of Puerto Vallarta, including Taqueria Vallarta, Vallarta Mexican Restaurant and Casa Vallarta.
For my family, as I’m sure for others, the threat of the hurricane is very real. In addition to the high winds, Patricia could spur deadly flooding and mudslides. In 2002, Hurricane Kenna, injured 52 people, created waist-deep floodwaters that damaged hotels, swept away vehicles, and destroyed waterfront businesses in Puerto Vallarta alone. The worst of the damage occurred in nearby San Blas, Nayarit, where 95 percent of homes and buildings were damaged. In all, Hurricane Kenna killed four and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses.
On Friday morning, Hurricane Patricia was headed straight for a Pacific coastline lined with sleepy fishing villages and glamorous resorts, including the ports of Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta.
Residents all along the coast are being evacuated and moved into shelters in surrounding areas such as El Tuito, according to my uncle Jorge Armando Bañuelos Castillón, who is also a Cabo Corrientes deputy administrator and who I spoke with on the phone. Shelters stocked with food, water and cots are ready for displaced families, he said.
I know El Tuito well. My grandmother and other relatives still live there. It is where I spent a good portion of my childhood. Its surrounding mountainous, tropical forest scenery is gorgeous, full of colorful birds and the scent of exotic fruits. But can this beauty can be deadly during a hurricane: Patricia’s path, experts expect, could quickly head over mountainous terrain near El Tuito that is prone to dangerous flash floods and landslides
My uncle tried to calm my fears by telling me that federal and state agencies had been preparing for the hurricane since late Wednesday. I asked if my grandmother was safe. He assured me she was.
The Consulate General of Mexico in Austin said it is prepared to take calls from folks who want more general information about the storm or need specific information on the status of loved ones.
As with any natural disaster, the hardest part is waiting and not being able to reach your loved ones. So, as has become customary during hurricane season, calls before a storm become routine in our home. For now, I know my cousins, uncles, aunts and grandmother are safe.
Still, my eyes and ears will be alert for more details on Patricia, as I and others with family in Mexico continue to pray and hope that the storm weakens and keeps its wrath away from the coast.