Mexico Urges Shelter as Hurricane Simon Nears

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has urged residents along the Pacific coast to stay indoors as Hurricane Simon, a Category 4 storm, pounds communities with powerful winds and heavy rain, with the town of Cabo Corrientes in Jalisco state facing the greatest risk of a direct hit.

As of Sunday, the hurricane’s eye was moving offshore of Jalisco, with sustained winds of at least 240 km/h (150 mph). Simon reached Category 4 strength, on a five-point scale, on Saturday, part of an unusually active Pacific hurricane season. It is not yet clear whether the storm will make landfall.

Sheinbaum posted her warning on X on Sunday. “With the approaching impact of Category 4 Hurricane Simon, we urge residents of coastal municipalities in Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit and Michoacan to remain sheltered until authorities officially declare that the danger has passed,” she wrote.

Torrential rain has already battered residents living between the Sierra Madre mountain range and the ocean, and communities in hilly and mountainous areas have been told to prepare for mudslides. The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned in a midday advisory that Simon could bring an additional 8 to 16 inches (20 to 41 cm) of rain to parts of southwestern Mexico. Totals of up to 76 cm (30 inches) were possible in areas of Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco through Monday.

Mexico’s National Civil Protection Coordination placed 28 municipalities in Jalisco and Colima under its highest cyclone alert level, with another 93 municipalities under a high alert level. Classes have been suspended in the affected areas and evacuations are under way. In the tourist destination of Puerto Vallarta, businesses boarded up windows and placed sandbags at entrances ahead of the storm. Reuters photographs showed people wading through a flooded street in Manzanillo on Sunday.

Jalisco Governor Pablo Navarro warned that the hurricane was creating “high-risk marine conditions” along the state’s coast, with waves reaching as high as eight metres (26 feet). He shared video on Sunday of storm surge crashing onto sidewalks and flooding waterways, and described the scene along the coast “from Barra de Navidad to Puerto Vallarta.” He urged people to follow official instructions, saying: “The safety of Jalisco’s families is the top priority.”