MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Hurricane Nora pounded the coast of west-central Mexico on Sunday with torrential rains and heavy winds that caused flooding, felled trees and damaged roads and power lines in several states.
Nora on Sunday morning was about 5 miles (10 kilometers) north of Mazatlan and moving north-north west at 10 miles per hour (17 km/h), the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPEP4+shtml/291444.shtml. It had sustained winds of 75 mph (120km/h) with higher gusts.
Now a Category 1 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, Nora hit land on Saturday in the Tomatlan municipality, in the state of Jalisco, the National Meteorological Service of Mexico said.
Local media showed pictures of flooding, damaged roads and felled trees across several states.
Mexican state power utility Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) said on Sunday morning it had restored electricity for 78% of users in Michoacan, Colima, Jalisco and Nayarit that were affected by the hurricane.
“This hurricane is bringing a lot of rain, a lot of water,” Cesar Guzman, director of civil protection for Nayarit said in a television interview.
The Miami-based NHC expected Nora to continue moving north-northwest on Sunday in its latest advisory and then move slower northwest through Tuesday.
“Nora is forecast to move very near and roughly parallel to the coast of Mexico early this week,” it said. “However, even a small deviation to the right of the forecast track could cause Nora to move inland and dissipate within the next day or so.”
Through Monday, Nora will likely produce additional rainfall of 2 to 4 inches (5-10 cm) across the coastal parts of Guerrero and Michoacan, the NHC said. It could also produce significant coastal flooding and large, destructive waves.
Last week, Hurricane Grace killed eight people after it hit Veracruz.
(Reporting by Miguel Angel Gutierrez and Stefanie Eschenbacher; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
