Hurricane Patricia weakens, still unsafe

President Enrique Pena Nieto issued a taped address late Friday, noting that while initial reports indicate damage has been less than those expected, “We can not yet let our guard down”.

Nevertheless, Patricia still posed threats of flooding and landslides as it was forecast to pour heavy rains on several Mexican states, particularly the states Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, Michoacan, and Guerrero.

Patricia moved over land at a speed of about 20 miles per hour (32 km/h), which is fast compared to other storms, meteorologists said.

“Maybe (the warnings) were exaggerated, but it’s better to be warned”, said Ruben Fregoso, a restaurant owner who reopened his business in the popular resort of Puerto Vallarta after the storm.

As the third anniversary of Hurricane Sandy approached, Mexico braced for the onslaught of Hurricane Patricia, predicted to cause widespread damage as it reached Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson wind intensity scale.

It was a remarkable outcome, considering that Patricia had once been a Category 5 hurricane with winds up to 200 miles per hour (325 kph) before coming ashore with slightly less power in an area dotted with sleepy villages and a few upscale hotels.

“Patricia is now the strongest ever hurricane to hit the eastern north Pacific region”, WMO spokeswoman Clare Nullis told a United Nations briefing in Geneva, citing an update from the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC).

“We should be happy that the results have not been those that at one point we were expecting”, said Ruiz.

On Saturday afternoon, Patricia was centered about 95 miles (155 kilometers) northeast of Zacatecas and was moving to the northeast at 24 mph (39 kph).

By Friday, it was the most powerful hurricane on record in the Western Hemisphere, with a central pressure of 880 millibars, according to the hurricane centre. Around 250 homes were destroyed or damaged. In the state of Jalisco, in the area nearest to landfall, roof coverings were peeled off by high winds and damage to non-structural elements such as awnings and signage was common.

The hurricane’s most powerful punch landed on a sparsely populated stretch of Mexico’s Pacific Coast before the system crashed into mountains that…

There were no early reports of deaths and it appeared major damage was averted as Patricia missed tourist centres like Puerto Vallarta and the major cargo port of Manzanillo, according to Reuters. “Local, state, and national authorities seemed to have gotten this one right”.

In Puerto Vallarta, the heart of a string of resorts that range from low-end mega hotels to exclusive villas attracting tech billionaires and pop stars, loudspeakers earlier blared orders to evacuate hotels.

Patricia also threatens Texas, where flooding already has caused a train derailment.