""It's
amazing it went from the worst in history to just some heavy rain,"
Susanna Sokol said."
10/24/15, "Hurricane Patricia weakens after making landfall in Mexico," CBS News, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
"Hurricane Patricia
roared ashore in southwestern Mexico as a Category 5 storm Friday evening, bringing lashing rains, surging seas and cyclonic winds hours
after it peaked as one of the strongest storms ever recorded.
There
were early reports of some flooding and landslides as the storm moved
over inland mountains after nightfall. Television news reports from the
coast showed some toppled trees and lampposts and inundated streets.
Milenio TV carried footage of cars and buses being swept by floodwaters
in the state of Jalisco.
But authorities said there were no
immediate reports of fatalities or the kind of major, widespread damage
feared earlier in the day when forecasters warned of a potentially
"catastrophic" landfall.
Early Saturday, the U.S. National
Hurricane Center had downgraded the storm to a Category 2 with sustained
winds of 100 mph. Its center was about 135 miles southwest of
Zacatecas, Mexico.
"The first reports confirm that the damage has been less than those
expected from a hurricane of this magnitude," President Enrique Pena
Nieto said in a taped address late Friday. He added, however, that "we
cannot yet let our guard down."
Indeed, Patricia's projected path
was headed next over a mountainous region dotted with hamlets that are
at risk for dangerous mudslides and flash floods, and where
communications can be sketchy. It wasn't clear when emergency crews
would be able to fully assess the storm's impact in those isolated
areas.
The storm was expected to continue weakening and dissipate
Saturday, but it was still capable of soaking the region with heavy
rain....
Patricia's center made landfall as a monstrous Category 5 hurricane
with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph, but in a relatively
low-populated stretch of the Jalisco state coast near Cuixmala. The
nearest significant city, Manzanillo, was about 55 miles southeast and
outside the zone of the storm's hurricane-force winds.
Brandie
Galle, a tourist from Grants Pass, Oregon, said she sheltered with other
guests in a ballroom with boarded-up windows at the Hard Rock Hotel in
Puerto Vallarta. Workers let them out to eat in a hotel restaurant after
the city was not feeling any major effects from the storm two hours
after landfall. There was no visible damage to the building....
Mexican officials declared a state of emergency in dozens of
municipalities in Colima, Nayarit and Jalisco states, and ordered
schools as many residents stocked up on canned food and other supplies.
Authorities opened hundreds of shelters and sent thousands of emergency
crews to aid people....
The Sokols, a
family of five from suburban Detroit, were supposed to fly out of
Puerto Vallarta on Friday but ended up hunkering down for hours in a
shelter at a university after their flight was canceled. By night they
were back where they began: at their hotel, and no worse for wear.
"It's
amazing it went from the worst in history to just some heavy rain,"
Susanna Sokol said, noting that at least the hurricane gave her daughter
a birthday to remember.
Earlier in the day, Roberto Ramirez, director of Mexico's National
Water Commission, which includes the nation's meteorological service,
said Patricia's winds could be powerful enough to lift automobiles,
destroy homes not sturdily built with cement and steel, and drag anyone
caught outside.
A steady rain fell in Puerto Vallarta in the early
evening, but there was no sign yet of the storm's vicious winds. Streets were deserted except for police patrolling slowly with their emergency lights on....
At the shelter in
Puerto Vallarta, Wendi Mozingo of Austin, Texas, and six family members
sat on folding chairs after being ordered out of their beachfront
vacation rental home by managers of the property. They brought a few
changes of clothes and left everything else behind.
The family was supposed to depart Puerto Vallarta on Tuesday, but now, Mozingo said, "We're leaving as soon as we can."...
U.S.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner said tens of thousands of
American citizens were believed to be vacationing or living in areas
likely to be affected by the storm.
The airports in Puerto
Vallarta, Manzanillo and Tepic were closed Friday, but officials
announced an air bridge Saturday to ferry stranded travelers out of
areas hit by the storm. Patricia also threatens Texas,
with forecasters saying that even after the storm breaks up, its
tropical moisture will likely feed heavy rains already soaking the
state.
The U.S. National Weather Service said a flash flood watch
would be in effect through Sunday morning for Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin
and San Antonio.
A coastal flood warning was in effect through
Friday night in Corpus Christi. Galveston was under a coastal flood
advisory until Saturday night."
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