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MAZATLAN, Mexico – Hurricane Willa on Tuesday smashed a penal colony off the Mexican Pacific coast, threatening an important resort area, as well as fishing villages and farms.
Emergency officials have announced that they have evacuated more than 4,250 people in coastal cities and set up 58 shelters in anticipation of the dangerous Category 3 storm, which is expected to land in the evening near Mazatlan. , a tourist center with about 500,000 inhabitants, many of them are American and Canadian expatriates.
In the middle of the afternoon, Willa brought a torrential rain.
Cool wet weather forecast for most of the week in New Orleans
The storm hit the Islas Marias, a group of Mexican islands located one hundred kilometers from the mainland, which include a nature reserve and a federal prison. The federal authorities refused to comment on the precautions taken at the prison, citing security concerns.
As Willa closed her doors, Mazatlan's beach had almost disappeared, the waves breaking against the coastal boulevard beneath the dark clouds that threatened. Some surfers took advantage of the high waves even as workers climbed the windows of hotels, shops and houses. The schools were closed and the streets almost empty.
Some families went to a Mazatlan Convention Center, which opened as a shelter. They laid blankets along the walls and waited for the storm.
"The house we live in is not well built," said Sergio Ernesto Meri Franco, who rents a studio.
The federal government has issued an "extraordinary emergency" decree for 19 municipalities in the states of Nayarit and Sinaloa.
Bob Swanson, from Saskatchewan, Canada, spends two to six months a year at his home in Mazarlan's Cerritos near the coast. He filled his washing machine with water, filled his fuel tank and refueled car in case he needed to go to the mountains for his safety.
"I come from a country where we have hurricanes and violent storms, so I look forward to it," he said on the phone while he was sitting on his porch and was smoking a cigarette.
Cool wet weather forecast for most of the week in New Orleans
The hurricane force extended to 35 miles from the center of Willa and tropical winds were felt up to 115 miles.
Forecasters have said that the hurricane could bring rain in parts of the states of Jalisco, Nayarit and Sinaloa, with possible floods and landslides in some mountainous areas.
Further south, the remnants of Tropical Storm Vicente continued to bring heavy rains that caused deadly floods and mudslides. The head of the Federal Disaster Agency, Luis Felipe Puente, said that 11 people had died as a result of Vicente. Local officials had previously estimated this figure at 12.
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