Strongest Hurricane Patricia weakens as it moves Inland
PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico (AP) – The US National Hurricane Center in Miami says Hurricane Patricia has weakened to a Category 2 storm, with sustained winds of 100 mph (155 kph).
The storm made landfall Friday evening on Mexico’s Pacific coast as a monstrous Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph (270 kph). But it is rapidly losing steam as it moves over a mountainous region inland from the shore.
Early Saturday, its center was about 135 miles (215 kilometers) southwest of Zacatecas, Mexico. Authorities say that so far there are reports of flooding and landslides, but no word of fatalities or major damage.
“The first reports confirm that the damage has been less than those expected from a hurricane of this magnitude,’’ President Enrique Pena Nieto said in a taped address late Friday. He added, however, that “we cannot yet let our guard down.’’
By late Friday, Patricia was rapidly losing steam but was still a major hurricane with winds at 130 mph (215 kph), the center reported, or just above the threshold for a Category 4.
By Friday it was the most powerful hurricane on record in the Western Hemisphere, with a central pressure of 880 millibars and maximum sustained winds of 200 mph (325 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center.
Patricia’s power while still out at sea was comparable to that of Typhoon Haiyan, which left more than 7,300 dead or missing in the Philippines two years ago, according to the UN’s World Meteorological Organization.
Mexican officials declared a state of emergency in dozens of municipalities in Colima, Nayarit and Jalisco states, and ordered schools as many residents stocked up on canned food and other supplies. Authorities opened hundreds of shelters and sent thousands of emergency crews to aid people.