Hurricane Roslyn batters Mexico’s Pacific coast

Storm hit the central Nayarit state around 5.30am local time, packing estimated maximum sustained winds of 195kph

US National Hurricane Centre warns of damaging winds and heavy rains that could cause flash flooding and landslides

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A satellite image shows Hurricane Roslyn approaching the Pacific coast of Mexico on Saturday. Photo: NOAA via AP

Published: 10:15pm, 23 Oct 2022Updated: 10:18pm, 23 Oct 2022

Hurricane Roslyn made landfall on the west coast of Mexico on Sunday as a powerful Category 3 storm, the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said, as communities braced themselves for damaging winds, a dangerous storm surge and flash flooding.

The storm hit the central Nayarit state around 5.30am local time, packing estimated maximum sustained winds of 195km (120 miles) per hour, the NHC said.

Just hours before hitting the Mexican coast, Roslyn was downgraded to a Category 3 storm on the five-tier Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale, with the NHC predicting “rapid weakening” after landfall.

Two members of Civil Protection check the beach ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Roslyn, in the tourist area of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco State, Mexico, on Saturday. Photo: AFP

“Roslyn is expected to produce a life-threatening storm surge with significant coastal flooding in areas of onshore winds” through Sunday, the NHC said, adding that near the coast “the surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves”.

It warned as well of damaging winds and heavy rains that could cause flash flooding and landslides.

Authorities have declared a precautionary alert in the Pacific coast states of Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit and Sinaloa.

Victor Hugo Roldan, director of civil protection in Jalisco, said on Saturday that several hundred people had been evacuated from the town of La Huerta, close to the hurricane’s expected path.

Most went to relatives’ homes, while some went to shelters, he said.