Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, September 26, 2026 – Rain associated with Hurricane Polo flooded roads across Puerto Vallarta Friday night, with standing water still disrupting parts of Las Glorias, Versalles and Díaz Ordaz on Saturday.
A municipal Civil Protection flood report listed Primero de Mayo, Las Glorias, Avenida Francisco Villa and Avenida México near Villas Universidad among the affected areas. Flooding was also reported at Avenida México and Poetas.
Separate road-closure reporting from Friday night confirmed that rising water forced authorities to close north-to-south lateral lanes of Boulevard Francisco Medina Ascencio near Plaza Genovesa.
Road closures and business disruption
The flooding affected a key north-south route through Puerto Vallarta’s Hotel Zone.
Near Plaza Genovesa, water rose above sidewalk level and entered several commercial properties, according to the local road report. Civil Protection, firefighters and traffic personnel diverted vehicles from the flooded lateral lanes to the central lanes of Francisco Medina Ascencio.
Drivers were advised to reduce speed and use alternate routes while crews worked to clear drainage areas and water levels receded.
The effects did not end with Friday night’s storm. Saturday follow-up reporting from Las Glorias and Versalles found standing water remaining in sectors of Las Glorias, Versalles and Díaz Ordaz.
Some businesses could not open Saturday because water remained outside their properties or because street access was restricted. The report also said hotel entrances along the corridor were affected.
In our review of the municipal notice and separate reports from the affected neighborhoods, the impact extended beyond isolated street ponding. Flooding interrupted traffic, reached businesses, and remained in some areas into the following day.
Las Glorias had been prepared for drainage problems
The persistent flooding in Las Glorias is significant because municipal water officials had taken preventive steps in the area before the storm arrived.
On Friday, SEAPAL said it had inspected strategic pumping and sewer installations ahead of Polo. The work included lowering system levels, cleaning grates and checking pumping equipment.
Crews inspected the Raquet and El Tornillo pumping stations in Las Glorias. They also checked the Norte I wastewater treatment plant in Las Mojoneras.
SEAPAL said the work was intended to leave enough pumping capacity to lower water levels if high tide affected the city’s sewer system.
The agency did not say Saturday that those preparations failed. The flooding shows that significant water remained in the same Las Glorias area where crews inspected pumping infrastructure one day earlier.
Las Glorias also had received preventive drainage work months before Polo. In June, municipal Public Works crews cleared stormwater outlets and opened a drainage channel toward Playa Camarones after previous flooding in the Hotel Zone.
That work was intended to reduce the risk of another major accumulation of water around Las Glorias and the Villas Vallarta commercial area.
The latest flooding therefore adds another event to a recurring drainage problem in the district rather than representing a previously unidentified trouble spot.
Polo stayed offshore while its rain reached Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta did not need a direct strike from Polo to experience local effects.
State Civil Protection Director Sergio Ramírez had warned earlier in the week that the hurricane’s offshore track would not eliminate risks to Jalisco.
“We will have significant effects from rain and storm surge,” Ramírez said in Spanish on Wednesday while discussing the potential for flooding in low-lying areas.
By Friday, federal meteorological authorities continued forecasting rain and elevated surf along Jalisco’s coast as Polo moved westward away from the mainland.
PVDN’s Friday update on Hurricane Polo identified rain through Saturday and elevated surf as the principal remaining risks for Puerto Vallarta as the hurricane moved farther offshore.
PVDN had also reported earlier in the week on the state’s flood and landslide warnings, which included Puerto Vallarta among municipalities facing rain from the hurricane’s broad circulation.
Friday night’s flooding developed while the hurricane’s center remained hundreds of kilometers from Puerto Vallarta.
Flooded streets remain a driving hazard
Municipal Civil Protection urged motorists to avoid streets where water has accumulated rather than attempting to cross flooded sections.
That warning applies beyond Las Glorias. Saturday’s municipal report identified problems at Primero de Mayo, Avenida Francisco Villa, Avenida México near Villas Universidad and the Avenida México-Poetas intersection.
Authorities also advised drivers to slow down and follow traffic controls around flooded roadways.
By Saturday, the most persistent problems were concentrated in Las Glorias, Versalles, and Díaz Ordaz, where machinery was working while residents and businesses waited for the standing water to recede.
