Hurricane Willa a menacing Category 4
MEXICO CITY — Hurricane Willa grew briefly into a Category 5 storm before dropping to a Category 4 as it swept toward Mexico’s Pacific coast with winds of 155 mph Monday, threatening a stretch of high-rise resort hotels, surfing beaches and fishing villages.
Hotels started taping up their windows, and officials began evacuating thousands of people and shuttered schools in a lowlying landscape where towns sit amid farmland tucked between the sea and lagoons.
The hurricane was expected to pass over or near the Islas Marias — a set of islands about 60 miles offshore that include a nature preserve and a federal prison — early Tuesday.
Forecasters said Willa would then blow ashore in the afternoon or evening along a 140-mile stretch extending from the resort town of Mazatlan to San Blas.
It was projected to weaken somewhat before hitting land but was still expected to be extremely dangerous.
The governments of Sinaloa and Nayarit states ordered coastal region schools to close and began preparing emergency shelters.
Enrique Moreno, mayor of Escuinapa, a municipality of about 60,000 on Willa’s track, said officials were trying to evacuate everybody in the seaside village of Teacapan. He estimated 3,000 would be moved but expected some would try to stay.
About 60 miles up the coast in Mazatlan, with a metropolitanarea population of about 500,000, Mayor Jose Joel Boucieguez said officials prepared shelters and were closely monitoring low-lying areas. Mazatlan is a popular vacation spot and home to a large number of American and Canadian expatriates.
As of Monday afternoon, Willa was centered about 110 miles southwest of Cabo Corrientes and was moving north at 8 mph.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center warned that Willa could bring 6 to 12 inches of rain — with up to 18 inches in some places, with flash flooding and landslides possible in mountainous areas.