Hurricane Lidia made landfall on the Pacific coast of Mexico as a Category 4 tropical storm. Hurricanes strike Mexico each year on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, usually between May and November.
Lidia rapidly lost strength overnight Tuesday into Wednesday as it moved toward northeastern Mexico.
But the states of Jalisco, Nayarit and Colima, all on the Pacific coast, reported intense rains that caused some rivers to overflow and caused minor flooding in several places.
Lidia made landfall near the resort town of Puerto Vallarta
The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) had forecast maximum sustained winds of around 220 km/h. “Life-threatening winds and flooding rains are spreading inland across west-central Mexico,” the NHC said in a bulletin.
Puerto Vallarta residents protect themselves
Residents of Puerto Vallarta barricaded their stores and homes with sandbags to protect themselves from flooding. Airport authorities announced that it would be closed this Wednesday until 8:00 a.m. (2:00 p.m. GMT).
Classes were suspended, businesses closed prematurely and most residents waited out the storm at home or in shelters opened by the authorities.
