‘Erick’ now an ‘extremely dangerous’ hurricane
PUERTO ESCONDIDO, Mexico—Southern Mexico’s Pacific coast braced for a Thursday morning impact as Hurricane “Erick” spun toward shore as a powerful Category 3 major hurricane, threatening to unleash destructive winds, flash floods and a dangerous storm surge on the region in coming hours, forecasters said.
Swiftly strengthening from a Category 1 hurricane hours earlier, Erick had maximum sustained winds of 200 kph by nightfall as it churned offshore about 85 kilometers southwest of Puerto Angel, the Miami-based US National Hurricane Center said.
Erick was also about 200 km southeast of Punta Maldonado and moving northwest at 15 kph toward an expected landfall sometime early Thursday, according to the center’s latest advisory. A major hurricane is defined as Category 3 or higher and wind speeds of at least 111 mph (180 kph).
Forecasters said further strengthening is expected and devastating wind damage is possible near where the eye crashes ashore.
Late Wednesday, Erick’s projected path crept south, closer to the resort city of Puerto Escondido in Oaxaca state, and centered on a sparsely populated stretch of coastline between the Oaxacan resort and Acapulco to the northwest.
President Claudia Sheinbaum said in a video message Wednesday night that all activities in the region were suspended and she urged people to stay in their homes or to move to shelters if they lived in low-lying areas.
