Calgarians on vacation brace for hurricane
Calgarians on holiday in Mexico are hunkering down as Hurricane Willa — an “extremely dangerous” near-Category 5 storm in the eastern Pacific — is on a path to blast into the western coast between Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta by Wednesday.
Calgarian Jacqueline Koenig arrived in Puerto Vallarta, at the Now Amber Resort, Sunday and said she’s keeping a close eye on the forecast.
“We spoke with a WestJet agent from here and he said that it’s 100 kilometres away and can go on either side of us or straight at us,” said Koenig, adding her husband, daughter, sonin-law and 20-month-old grandson are with her.
Koenig said she will be asking hotel staff what plans are in place should Willa bear down.
“No one here from the resort has given any direction one way or other,” she said.
The governments of Sinaloa and Nayarit states ordered coastal region schools to close on Monday and began preparing emergency shelters ahead of the onslaught.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said that Willa could “produce life-threatening storm surge, wind and rainfall over portions of southwestern and westcentral Mexico beginning on Tuesday.”
It predicted that Willa could become a Category 5 hurricane later Monday, generating life-threatening surf and riptide conditions, although Monday evening it was rated was a Category 4.
A hurricane warning was posted for Mexico’s western coast between San Blas and Mazatlan, including Islas Marias, home to a nature reserve and federal prison directly in the forecast track of the storm.
Tropical storm warnings ranged from Playa Perula north to San Blas and from Mazatlan north to Bahia Tempehuaya. The centre said Willa is expected make landfall late Tuesday or early Wednesday.
By early Monday, Willa had maximum sustained winds of 255 km/h — the same wind speed Hurricane Michael had at landfall in Florida — and was centred about 325 kilometres south-southwest of the Islas Marias and 250 kilometres south-southwest of Cabo Corrientes.
Hurricane force winds extended 45 kilometres from the storm’s centre and tropical storm force winds were up to 150 kilometres out.
The hurricane centre said 15 to 30 centimetres of rain could fall — and some places could see up to 45 centimetres — on parts of western Jalisco, western Nayarit and southern Sinaloa states. It warned of the danger of flash flooding and landslides in mountainous areas.