‘Extremely Dangerous’ Hurricane Roslyn Threatens Mexico

Hurricane Roslyn was expected to bring treacherous storm surge to parts of Mexico on Sunday after rolling across the Pacific as a powerful Category 4 storm just off the resort town of Puerto Vallarta.

The US National Hurricane Center said on Sunday morning that Roslyn had become « extremely dangerous » with maximum sustained winds of 215 kilometers per hour.

The storm was expected to « bring damaging winds, life-threatening storm surge and torrential rains to parts of west-central Mexico today, » the hurricane center said at 12:00 p.m. Sunday.

The center placed Roslyn’s core about 75 kilometers west of Cabo Corrientes – the point of land jutting into the Pacific south of Puerto Vallarta – and moving north at 19 km/h.

Should land this morning

Forecasters said Roslyn would likely pass near Cabo Corrientes and the Puerto Vallarta area overnight, but warned those areas would still experience high winds, heavy rain and rough surf.

A hurricane warning was in effect for Las Islas Marias and Playa Perula in Escuinapa. A hurricane watch was in effect for the area north of Escuinapa to Mazatlan, the center said.

The storm was expected to make landfall in Nayarit state on Sunday morning. Hurricane Orlene made landfall on October 3 a little further north in roughly the same area, about 75 kilometers southeast of the resort town of Mazatlan.

Hurricane-force winds extended 45 kilometers from central Roslyn, while tropical-storm-force winds extended 130 kilometers, the US Hurricane Center said.

A hurricane warning was posted for part of the coast from Playa Perula in the south to Cabo Corrientes in the north to El Roblito and for the Islas Marias.

Seemingly unaware of the storm’s approach, tourists ate Saturday at beachfront restaurants around Puerto Vallarta and small resorts further north on the Nayarit coast, where the storm was likely heading.

« The place is full of tourists »

« We are fine. Everything is calm, everything is normal, » said Jaime Canton, receptionist at the Casa Maria hotel in Puerto Vallarta. He said that if the winds picked up, the hotel would reassemble outdoor furniture « so nothing would fly ».

As the skies began to darken, the waves remained normal and few people seemed to rush to take precautions. The swimmers were still in the sea in Puerto Vallarta.

« The place is full of tourists, » said Patricia Morales, receptionist at the Punta Guayabitas hotel in the laid-back beach town of the same name, further up the coast.

Asked about the precautions taken, Morales replied: « They [authorities] didn’t tell us. »

The Nayarit state government said the hurricane was expected to make landfall around the fishing village of San Blas, about 150 kilometers north of Puerto Vallarta.

The head of the State Civil Defense Office, Pedro Nunez, said: « Right now we are doing patrols in the cities, to alert people so that they can keep their property safe and protect themselves in safer areas ».

In neighboring Jalisco state, Governor Enrique Alfaro wrote that 270 people had been evacuated to a town near the hurricane’s predicted path and five emergency shelters had been set up in Puerto Vallarta.

The National Water Commission said rains in Roslyn could cause mudslides and flooding, and the US Hurricane Center warned of dangerous storm surge along the coast, as well as 10 to 15 centimeters of rain.