Hurricane Patricia: Strongest Storm to Hit Mexico Weakens But Still Dangerous
Hurricane Patricia, the strongest storm to hit Mexico so far, has already weakened from Category 5 to Category 4 on Friday night but is still considered very dangerous.
Hurricane Patricia earlier made landfall on Mexico's Pacific coast on Friday at 6:15 p.m. as a Category 5 storm with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph over the country's southwestern region. However, the US National Weather Service said the storm's maximum sustained winds have already dropped to 130 mph, according to CNN.
Weather experts earlier warned that Hurricane Patricia could trigger waves as high as 40 feet and dangerous flash floods and mudslides in southwestern Mexico. Because of this, more than 7 million locals geared up for the worst effects of the storm on the area, the NBC News reports.
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After making landfall near Manzanillo, Hurricane Patricia pushed inland to the southwestern part of Mexico and lashed out at the resorts and fishing villages along its way, the report details.
CONAGUA, the country's National Commission for Water, said the storm's eye spans 10 kilometers wide.
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto sent out an announcement via Twitter urging the people to obey the Civil Protection's instructions and to stay indoors for their own safety.
The wind speeds of Patricia could make the hurricane the most dangerous storm to hit Mexico, CONAGUA director Robert Ramirez de la Parra said.
"The hurricane is so big and so intense that it has the capacity to pass over both the Sierra Madres in our country … and then exit the country on the other side into the north part of the Gulf of Mexico and possibly the United States," CNN quotes de la Parra's statement.
Although Hurricane Patricia had already weakened, the National Hurricane Center still cautioned people to take solid steps to protect themselves and their properties, the report relays.
In a tweet, the World Meteorological Organization warned that Hurricane Patricia's intensity is similar to the Typhoon Haiyan that raged against the Philippines two years ago and left more than 6,000 people dead after storm surges slapped coastal regions.
