Hurricane “Lidia” made landfall in Mexico with great force. The center of the force four storm reached the coast in the town of Las Peñitas with wind speeds of up to 220 kilometers per hour. A man was killed.
After Hurricane Lidia made landfall on Mexico’s Pacific coast, there was the first death. In Punta de Mita in the state of Nayarit, a falling tree killed a man in his car, the newspaper “El Occidental” reported, citing the civil protection authority.
Previously, “Lidia” had reached the mainland as an “extremely dangerous” storm with a strength of four out of five on the hurricane scale with wind speeds of up to 220 kilometers per hour – at the level of the town of Las Peñitas, 55 kilometers southwest of the holiday resort of Puerto Vallarta (state of Jalisco ). The area is a sparsely populated peninsula.
Landslides on highways and downed power lines
“Lidia” remained a strong hurricane even after crossing the country with wind speeds of 165 kilometers per hour late Tuesday (local time). It has been downgraded to category two, Mexico’s weather agency said late Tuesday evening. It warned of extreme rain, waves of up to nine meters high on the coast and violent gusts in the states of Colima, Jalisco and Nayarit.
The states of Jalisco and Nayarit reported downed trees and power lines, as well as landslides on some highways in the region. Local authorities canceled classes in coastal communities.
Emergency shelters open
Jalisco Governor Enrique Alfaro announced via the X platform (formerly Twitter) that the state had opened 23 emergency shelters.