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AFP
The eye of Hurricane Willa, category 3 out of the 5 constituting the Saffir-Simpson scale sat on Tuesday night on the Mexican Pacific coast, where 4,200 people between inhabitants and tourists, were housed in anticyclonic shelters.
The National Meteorological Service (SMN) has posted on Twitter a satellite image stating " the eye of Hurricane # Willa on the coast ", 15 km from the municipality of Escuinapa , in the state of Sinaloa (northwest).
" The intense # Hurricane #Willa touched land near the city Isla del Forest ," added the institution.
In his last report, just prior to the arrival of Willa, the SMN reported that the wind was blowing to a maximum of at 195 km / h gusts to 240 km / h. moving north-northeast at 17 km / h.
"The wide circulation of Willa covers the states of Sinaloa, Durango, Nayarit, Jalisco and Zacatecas, as well as the Marias Islands, which cause waves of 4 to 6 meters high and the possible formation of marine bombshell off the coast of Sinaloa, Nayarit and Jalisco, "he warned.
Shortly before the arrival of the hurricane, the streets of Escuinapa – of about 30,000 inhabitants – seemed practically empty, only a few people lying on the way to shelter in the shelters guarded by the army.
Meanwhile, in the vicinity and in the tourist areas of Mazatlan light but continuous rain flooded some streets. However, this did not prevent people from walking and cycling on the pier, AFP said.
Willa was located about 80 km southeast of Mazatlan, a popular tourist destination with some 500,000 inhabitants and where the large hotels on the beach were protected by the workers.
Soil is saturated with rains and "there could be landslides, landslides, overflows of rivers and streams or effects on roads", warned the SMN.
"Preventive evacuation operations were carried out in high-risk areas and tourist destinations, and more than 4,250 people were evacuated to 58 temporary shelters ," said the chief of police. the press at a press conference. Civil protection of the Minister of the Interior, Luis Felipe Puente.
The body of the phenomenon crossed the Marías Islands, surrounded by sharks and housing a prison with about 1,000 prisoners, according to the Mexican press. "Up to now, no relationship has been reported" said the manager.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Puente added, has contacted governments in other countries to inform their citizens visiting the Pacific that respect the recommendations of the Civil Protection.
"I hope it is fast"
Escuinapa is dominated by houses built with solid materials, but whose windows have been protected by wood and crossed strips.
In an anticyclonic refuge of the community where they are. 2,500 people the majority of small neighboring communities dedicated to fishing and whose homes are made of fragile materials.
"For the moment, they look after us well, who may be short of food, we hope it will be fast enough to go home ," said Epigmenio Cárdenas, a 44-year-old farmer who arrived at the shelter.
Himself, like many other settlers, feared to have abandoned his few belongings. " We are afraid of leaving everything but we can not do anything against nature ," he adds with one of his granddaughters in his arms.
Sinaloa is considered one of the most dangerous states in Mexico because of the presence of drug cartels.
Given the proximity of the phenomenon, troops of the Mexican army were deployed to launch an emergency rescue operation.
"They told us that the phenomenon that we had to come here was going to become very strong" says María Virginia Cárdenas, a 59-year-old cook. "God grant us that we will not miss anything, that we will return where we left."
Nayarit and Sinaloa were declared in red alert by the arrival of Willa and other Pacific coastal districts are in orange, where are several tourist destinations . ] 40% of its capacity, according to the governance.
Willa also interacts with the tropical depression Vicente, located in the south-central part of the Mexican Pacific.
In September, large areas of the Mexican Pacific were affected by heavy rains that caused at least 15 deaths
At this balance were added last week others ] 11 victims – including seven miners – floods in Oaxaca, in the South Pacific coast.
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