MEXICO-STORM/PATRICIA-MORNING Puerto Vallarta awakens intact after Patricia makes landfall

Record ID: 134322

  • Title: MEXICO-STORM/PATRICIA-MORNING Puerto Vallarta awakens intact after Patricia makes landfall
  • Date: 24th October 2015
  • Summary: PUERTO VALLARTA, MEXICO (OCTOBER 24, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF RED CROSS WORKERS UNLOADING AID PACKAGES MORE OF WORKERS PILING UP PACKAGES AID WORKERS HUDDLING IN CONVERSATION (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) RED CROSS SPOKESMAN IN JALISCO STATE, ALHY DANIEL NUNEZ, SAYING: "We are talking about a very powerful hurricane that threatened to damage in a serious way Puerto Vallarta, but fortunately the damages weren't so severe. If there are situations like what we saw this morning of rising water levels in the river, but there's nothing of the sort. We can conclude up to this point that there's no major losses." PALM TREES IN STORM MAN RUNNING THROUGH VARIOUS OF TIDE HITTING SHORELINE PASSERS-BY VARIOUS OF SHORELINE AFTER STORM HAS PASSED THROUGH
  • Embargoed: 8th November 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Mexico
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAD10ID6GRNYIKMEH71MKNBXCY0
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Patricia, one of the strongest ever hurricanes, hammered Mexico's coastal areas but is skirting major cities and causing less damage than feared. The coastal area of Puerto Vallarta, for one, survived without reports of major damages or casualties as rescue workers arrived Saturday (October 24).
    Mowing down trees, flooding streets and battering buildings, Hurricane Patricia plowed into Mexico as a Category 5 storm on Friday evening before grinding inland. It rapidly lost power in the mountains that rise up along the Pacific coast and was downgraded to a tropical storm by Saturday morning.
    So far, it appeared that major damage had been averted because the powerful storm did not hit large population centres.
    Around 15,000 tourists had been hurriedly evacuated from the beach resort of Puerto Vallarta as people scrambled to get away from the advancing hurricane, whose massive swirl over Mexico could be seen clearly from space.
    Thousands of residents and tourists ended up in improvised shelters, but there were no early reports of fatalities and many felt they had escaped lightly.
    The spokesman for the Red Cross in Jalisco state concurred.
    "We are talking about a very powerful hurricane that threatened to damage in a serious way Puerto Vallarta, but fortunately the damages weren't so severe. If there are situations like what we saw this morning of rising water levels in the river, but there's nothing of the sort. We can conclude up to this point that there's no major losses," Alhy Daniel Nunez told Reuters.
    The storm hit land near the area of Cuixmala, home to one of Mexico's most exclusive getaways, at 6:15 p.m. (2315 GMT) on Friday, the U.S National Hurricane Centre said.
    Cuixmala, located between the major port of Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta, has over the years played host to a colourful assortment of world leaders and eccentric billionaires.
    The area is sparsely populated but there are small towns, and it was not clear yet how much damage they had suffered.
    At one point generating sustained winds of 200 mph (322 kph), Patricia was the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere.
    Even though it lost some power before coming ashore, it was still a Category 5 storm, the strongest on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale. Such storms are relatively rare and are capable of causing devastating destruction.
    Patricia's edges caused flooding in parts of Puerto Vallarta, but the resort escaped the worst of the storm and dozens of tourists were able to leave shelters and return to their hotels on Friday night.
    Patricia rapidly lost power once it travelled inland. By Saturday morning it had been downgraded to a tropical storm with its maximum winds down to about 50 mph (80 kph), the Miami-based Hurricane Centre said.
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