Hurricane John made landfall in western Mexico late Monday after rapidly intensifying into a Category 3 storm, bringing heavy rainfall and the risk of flooding and landslides to the country’s Pacific coast.
The storm’s effects on Monday were felt from the central coast of Oaxaca to Acapulco, a resort city in the neighboring state of Guerrero, which was devastated last October when Hurricane Otis defied forecasts and quickly transformed from a tropical storm into a Category 5 hurricane.
Key things to know about the storm.
The storm has intensified rapidly. John grew in strength from a tropical storm to a Category 3 hurricane on Monday, packing winds of around 120 miles per hour as it made landfall. A portion of Mexico’s coastline is currently under a hurricane warning, meaning hurricane conditions are expected within 12 to 24 hours, NOAA said.
Residents should get ready for heavy rains. Forecasters are also predicting six to 12 inches of rain through Thursday, and up to 30 inches in isolated areas along the coastline. Heavy rains could cause catastrophic flash flooding and mudslides in Oaxaca, along with the Mexican states of Chiapas and Guerrero. Other regions could see as much as 12 inches of rain through Thursday that could cause life-threatening flood risks, especially near the coast.
On Monday, as the waves gradually began to swell on the beaches of Puerto Escondido, a famous tourist town in Oaxaca state, Carlos Jorge Ponce and other tour guides went out to bring dozens of boats ashore.
“It’s something we have been through before, and all that remains is to wait for the storm to pass,” said Mr. Ponce, 47. “There is a little nervousness.”
John’s constant rains had already generated some landslides, slowing traffic on a recently inaugurated highway.
The country’s electricity commission said that it had deployed nearly 1,400 electricians to the region, along with cranes and emergency power plants, to prevent and fix any power outages.
Civil protection authorities had started coordinating the opening of shelters in about 50 municipalities across Oaxaca.
“Although John’s trajectory has changed, it is still unstable, and we must continue monitoring the phenomenon,” said Esteban Vásquez Hernández, the civil protection coordinator in the region.
A recent study showed that rapid intensification like what John has undergone is now twice as likely, at least for Atlantic hurricanes, partially because of human-caused climate change driven by the burning of fossil fuels. Earlier this year, Hurricane Beryl broke records when it became the earliest hurricane ever to reach Category 4 and then Category 5 intensity in the Atlantic Basin, with wind speeds increasing by 35 miles per hour or more within a 24-hour period.
John is likely to bring damaging hurricane-force winds and dangerous storm surge, or an unusually high rise in sea level and wave height that could cause flooding.
Hurricanes are also unleashing higher levels of rainfall as global temperatures increase.
Carrie Stevenson, a faculty member at the University of Florida who works with local communities on hurricane preparedness, said the rainfall forecast could be devastating.
“It’s going to be a really big rainmaker,” Ms. Stevenson said. “Flash flooding could be the most dangerous part of this.”
She’s also concerned that if the storm is strong enough it could cross Mexico and emerge in the Gulf of Mexico, near where a storm currently known as Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine is expected to move north this week.
“I’d definitely watch that because it’s not on the radar of anyone in the Gulf of Mexico,” Ms. Stevenson said.
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