Hurricane Lidia moved inland on the west coast of Mexico on Tuesday evening as an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm, killing one person and spreading life-threatening winds and heavy rains that could trigger flooding and mudslides in some areas, forecasters said.
The storm made landfall some 40 miles southwest of the resort town of Puerto Vallarta, in the state of Jalisco, just before 5 p.m. local time, according to the National Hurricane Center.
At 8 p.m., Lidia was located about 30 miles east of Puerto Vallarta. Its sustained winds reached 105 miles per hour, with stronger gusts, according to the National Hurricane Center. Once the winds of a storm exceed 74 m.p.h., it is considered a hurricane.
Officials in the state of Nayarit said that one man had died in the town of Punta Mita after strong winds caused a tree to fall on the pickup truck that he was driving.
Schools were suspended on Wednesday in 23 municipalities in Jalisco, the state’s Education Ministry said. The state opened 23 temporary shelters, said the governor, Enrique Alfaro, who also warned people living on the coast not to go near bodies of water and prepare emergency backpacks, first-aid kits, flashlights and important documents. Hospitals in Puerto Vallarta prepared for an influx of patients.
Earlier Tuesday, residents in the coastal area of Puerto Vallarta stocked up on goods and taking shelter. Visitors and vendors vacated beachside towns. The city’s airport said it would close at 4 p.m. local time, and officials said transportation in the region would be suspended.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico called on residents in the affected regions to “take refuge” and said on social media that the armed forces and civil protection authorities were present there.
Susana Rodríguez Mejía, a spokeswoman for Jalisco’s state government, said that businesses in the resort town were temporarily closed. Officials have advised most people to shelter at home and said that those living near rivers, streams or mountainous areas should instead go to the government-run shelters. Tourists, Ms. Rodríguez Mejía added, should be able to shelter at their hotels.
“We can’t go and control nature, but what we can do is protect ourselves,” Jesús Guillermo Carmona Jiménez, the president of the Hotel and Motel Association of Bahía de Banderas, said in an interview. He said that travelers at Vallarta Gardens, a hotel in the beachside city, had been offered free food and accommodation during the storm.
Puerto Vallarta was last hit by Hurricane Nora in August 2021, which caused the Cuale River to overflow, destroying a bridge and killing at least three people.
Exact population counts for the regions that might be affected by Lidia were not available.
A hurricane warning was in effect for the Pacific Coast of west-central Mexico from Manzanillo to San Blas, a tropical storm warning from Punta San Telmo to Manzanillo. Warnings were discontinued for other areas in Mexico.
Lidia is expected to produce four to eight inches of rain — and in some areas up to 12 inches — through Wednesday across the state of Nayarit, southern portions of the state of Sinaloa and coastal portions of the state of Jalisco, the Hurricane Center said.
These rains are likely to produce flash and urban flooding, and mudslides are possible in areas of higher terrain near the coast. A “dangerous storm surge” is expected to cause significant coastal flooding, forecasters said.
“Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion,” forecasters warned on Monday.
Swells from Lidia will affect the west coast of Mexico and the Baja California peninsula over the next few days. These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.
Another hurricane made landfall in Nayarit in late October last year. That storm, Hurricane Roslyn, was a Category 4 storm that contributed to the deaths of four people, according to the Hurricane Center.
“That was a much more significant system,” Alex DaSilva, a meteorologist with AccuWeather, said. “While we don’t expect it to be of that strength, we are always concerned about the flooding downpours.”
Areas inland on the west coast of Mexico have mountainous terrain, meaning that a lot of rain there can lead to mudslides, washouts and other flooding issues, he said.
Reporting was contributed by Alejandra Valenciano Ortega from Guadalajara, Mexico, Karina Cancino from Nayarit, Mexico, and Emiliano Rodríguez Mega from Mexico City. Johnny Diaz and Claire Moses also contributed reporting.