Hurricane Simon, a powerful Category 4 storm, lashed Mexico’s Pacific coast on Sunday, with its core hovering just off the shoreline. The storm unleashed its most intense winds and rain on residents living between the Sierra Madre mountain range and the sea.
The eye of Hurricane Simon was tracking northward parallel to the coast, leaving meteorologists uncertain if it would make landfall. This uncertainty raised concerns that Simon could maintain its dangerous strength, with sustained winds reaching speeds of 240 kilometers per hour.
Residents in the Puerto Vallarta region, a favored spot for U.S. tourists, faced a grim outlook due to the storm’s proximity. Inland from the resort zones, many local communities were at risk due to the vulnerability of their housing structures.
At dawn, Hurricane Simon was positioned around 175 kilometers south-southeast of Cabo Corrientes, inching north-northwest at a sluggish pace of nine km/h. Philip Pappin, a senior specialist at the National Hurricane Center, identified the westernmost tip of mainland Mexico as the probable landfall site.
Pappin cautioned that Simon posed a severe threat of catastrophic winds and life-threatening storm surges along the west-central Mexican coast, where a hurricane warning was in place. The storm was also anticipated to bring heavy rainfall, potentially triggering life-threatening flooding and mudslides in elevated areas along the coastline, alongside significant swells.
The uncertainty of Simon’s landfall made predictions challenging, given the eye’s proximity to the coast. However, Pappin highlighted Cabo Corrientes as the area most likely to face a direct impact from the storm.
In other regions, the hurricane was causing heavy rainfall across southwestern Mexico, with anticipated accumulations of 25 to 50 cm in many locations. Certain areas in Michoacan, Colima, and Jalisco states could receive up to 76 cm of rainfall, leading to hazardous flooding and mudslide risks, particularly in steep terrains.
Jalisco state authorities took proactive measures by suspending classes in coastal municipalities, evacuating vulnerable populations, and urging the tourism sector to ensure the safety of workers and visitors in shelters or secure zones. Ahead of the severe weather, businesses in Puerto Vallarta were preparing for the storm by boarding up windows.
The National Hurricane Center warned of an impending dangerous storm surge near the coast and to the east of the landfall location, accompanied by large and destructive waves. Despite the looming threat, Canadian tourist Ed Currie, still enjoying his vacation in Puerto Vallarta with his wife, remained cautiously optimistic, planning to stay indoors and monitor the situation closely.
As Hurricane Simon continued its menacing path along Mexico’s coast, residents and tourists braced themselves for potential impacts and disruptions.