Hurricane Lidia made landfall on Mexico's Pacific coast on Tuesday night (October 10) and was considered an "extremely dangerous storm", bringing strong winds and torrential rain that left at least one person dead, although it weakened to a Category 2 storm as it moved inland.
Authorities in Nayarit state said a man was killed when a tree fell on the truck he was driving north of the main tourist destination of Puerto Vallarta. Lidia made landfall near the small coastal town of Las Penitas just before 6 p.m. (08:00 GMT+8) as a Category 4 storm.
In Puerto Vallarta, residents boarded up windows and hauled sandbags onto the beach to reinforce flood barriers in front of their stores, and the airport announced it would be closed until 8 a.m. (10 p.m. GMT+8) Thursday. Private.
The city's streets were deserted as night fell, as strong winds splashed water onto palm-lined promenades and shook buildings. Around 9 p.m. (11 a.m. GMT+8), the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Lidia was packing maximum sustained winds of 105 mph (165 km/h) as it passed near the city, inland from Mascota, in the state of Jalisco.
The Miami-based NHC said Lidia was moving east-northeast at 18 mph and was expected to weaken rapidly as it moved over high terrain in west-central Mexico. “Potentially life-threatening storm winds are expected in the storm's path overnight,” the agency said, warning of dangerous water levels, flash flooding, and shore surges.
Pacific Beach. Videos on social media showed heavy rain reaching as far as the inland city of Guadalajara. Some residents said fallen trees blocked the road, and the river was at risk of overflowing its banks.
“I call on people living between Nayarit and Jalisco, especially in Bahia de Banderas, Puerto Vallarta, and Tomatlan, to take precautions,” President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on the social media platform called Twitter, urging people to keep away from low temperatures, sleeping areas, rivers, and slopes.
A hurricane warning is in effect from the port city of Manzanillo, Colima, to San Blas in Nayarit, while tropical storm conditions could extend into Michoacan state.
Lidia is expected to see up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) of rain, although some areas could receive up to 12 inches of rain through Wednesday, the NHC said.
Further south, Tropical Storm Max made landfall on Monday, leaving two dead and at least two injured in Guerrero state, according to media reports.
Lidia arrives eight years after Patricia, a Category 5 hurricane – the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson scale – struck near Puerto Vallarta with winds that toppled trees, displaced cars and forced thousands of people from their homes.