Civil Protections have begun evacuations ahead of Hurricane Patricia throughout the coastal areas of Colima, Jalisco, and Nayarit, including an estimated 20,000 in the area of Vallarta-Nayarit. A total of 50,000 people are expected to be evacuated before Friday afternoon, according to civil protections in the three states.
The City of Puerto Vallarta has established 18 shelter locations to house evacuees. The city urges residents who do not feel safe in their location to visit the nearest shelter. Residents can find a list of shelters here.
At 7:00 PM local time, Hurricane Patricia had winds of 150 mph, just shy of a Category 5 storm. The hurricane is expected to strengthen before making landfall between Colima and Puerto Vallarta, possibly as a Category 5 storm.
Puerto Vallarta will begin to feel hurricane force winds and rain by midday Friday and landfall around 7:00 PM Friday evening.
Vallarta Daily will keep you updated with the latest news and alerts.
Additional units in civil protection are being sent to the area from around the state, including Guadalajara.
SPCA in Puerto Vallarta is also organizing an evacuation of all their animals being housed at the sanctuary located on flood prone grounds. The organization will begin moving animals Friday morning to higher grounds with the help of local volunteers.
The Jalisco Secretariat of Education reported that due to Hurricane Patricia school activities are suspended in the schools of Puerto Vallarta, Cabo Corrientes, La Huerta, Tomatlan, Cihuatlan, Cuautitlán de García Barragán, Talpa de Allende and Mascota. Classes will not resume until cleared by local Civil Protections.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami warned that preparations should be rushed to completion, saying the storm could cause coastal flooding, destructive waves and flash floods.
“This is an extremely dangerous, potentially catastrophic hurricane,” centre meteorologist Dennis Feltgen said.
The federal government declared a state of emergency for 56 municipalities in the storm’s projected path, in the states of Colima, Nayarit and Jalisco.
By Thursday evening, Patricia’s maximum sustained winds had increased to 240 kilometres per hour — just below Category 5 threshold of 252 kilometres per hour, the highest designation on the Saffir-Simpson scale used to quantify hurricane’s wind strength.
Patricia was centred about 360 kilometres south of Manzanillo and was moving northwest at 20 kph on a projected track to come onshore between Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta sometime Friday afternoon or evening.
Vallarta Daily will keep you updated with the latest news and alerts.
