‘Extremely dangerous’ Hurricane Patricia was upgraded to a Category 5 storm late last night as it barreled towards the beach resort of Puerto Vallarta on the western Mexican coastline.
There are chaotic scenes on the west coast of Mexico this afternoon as the worst hurricane in history barrels down on a sleepy seaside resort while thousands of tourists evacuate and scores of residents make a last dash to protect their property and buy supplies.
Category Five Hurricane Patricia is set to make a direct hit on the resort town of Puerto Vallarta with sustained winds of 200mph, stronger gusts and ocean swells 40ft high – and millions of people in the states of Colima, Nayarit and Jalisco will feel the full wrath of the storm.
The lowest recorded atmospheric pressure inside the storm is 880mb, which makes it the strongest hurricane in history – breaking the previous record of 882mb held by 2005’s Hurricane Wilma.
The strongest storm ever recorded is 1979’s Typhoon Tip which had an atmospheric pressure of 870mb, however its maximum windspeed was 5mph slower than Patricia. Typhoon Nancy of 1961 holds the record for highest wind speed at 215mph.
Patricia’s impact on Mexico is set to be devastating – the strong winds will damage property and heavy rains are expected to cause mudslides – and the storm is also set to bring rain and more flooding to Texas in the coming days.
The Lone Star State is already being pounded with rain and floods from a slow moving storm system, and the further threat from the tail end of Patricia has put 10million people under flash flood warnings
Some officials even warn that the storm could make it across Mexico as a hurricane, regain strength in the Gulf of Mexico and head towards the United States.
‘The hurricane is so strong that it could cross the country’s two Sierra Madre mountain ranges, the two most mountainous regions, and come out the other side of the country along the Gulf of Mexico and head to the United States,” said Roberto Ramirez, the head of Mexico’s federal water agency, Conagua. He also called Patricia ‘the most dangerous storm in history’.
The hurricane strength winds cover a circle around the storm with a diameter of 70 miles, and tropical storm winds are sweeping across a circular area 350 miles wide.
When it makes landfall, residents in the 70-mile wide hurricane zone are likely to experience winds of 185mph.
Experts say the effects of Patricia could be comparable to Typhoon Haiyan, which left more than 7,300 dead or missing in the Philippines two years ago.
‘It’s looking like a very bad disaster is shaping up,’ said MIT meteorology professor Kerry Emanuel.
In Puerto Vallarta, a resort town with a population of 250,000, loudspeakers blared orders to evacuate hotels as a light rain fell and a slight breeze ruffled palm trees. The streets emptied as police sirens wailed. Several exclusive resorts favored by billionaires and celebrities are also in the firing line.
“Everyone is running, all the grocery stores are already sold out,” said local worker Ramona Delgado who also described ten foot waves crashing into the shore..
Source: Strongest Pacific hurricane ever barrels towards Mexico
