The National Hurricane Center said Hurricane Patricia was the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere, and on a par with Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, which ravaged the Philippines, killing thousands.
Loudspeakers along the shore of the resort of Puerto Vallarta blared orders to evacuate hotels as a light rain fell and a slight breeze ruffled palm trees. The streets emptied as police sirens wailed.
The city’s airport was closed on Friday morning. Local schools were also closed and some business owners were busy boarding and taping up windows.
The storm grew at an “incredible rate” in the past 12 hours, the World Meteorological Organization said, becoming a hurricane overnight with maximum sustained winds of about 200 miles per hour (325 km per hour) as it moved toward the north-northwest at 12 mph (19 kph).
“This is really, really, really strong,” WMO spokeswoman Clare Nullis told a U.N. briefing in Geneva. “It’s comparable with Typhoon Haiyan which hit the Philippines with such devastating affect a couple of years ago.”
“The winds are enough to get a plane in the air and keep it flying,” Nullis said.
Patricia was last located about 145 miles (235 km) south-southwest of the port of Manzanillo, where a hurricane warning had been issued. A hurricane warning was also in effect for the beach resort of Puerto Vallarta.
It is a Category 5 hurricane, the highest rating possible, and was expected to make landfall as an “extremely dangerous” storm on Friday afternoon or evening, the Miami-based hurricane center said earlier.
Mexican emergency officials prepared shelters and warned people in the states of Colima, Jalisco and Michoacan to prepare for torrential rainfalls.
The U.S. government issued an advisory urging its nationals to steer clear of beaches and rough seas and to take shelter as instructed by Mexican officials.
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