Hurricane Simon lashes Mexico’s Pacific coast as a powerful Category 3 storm

Hurricane Simon’s eye remains just off Mexico’s Pacific coast, but the Category 4 storm’s most powerful winds and rain slammed people living between the Sierra Madre and the ocean.

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said it’s not clear if it will make landfall. This could mean Simon maintains its extremely dangerous strength, sustaining winds of 150 mph.

That’s not good news for people in the Puerto Vallarta area, a popular destination for U.S. tourists. Just inland and uphill from the resort areas, many Mexicans live in communities where housing might not stand up to the storm.

At daybreak, Simon was centered about 110 miles south-southeast of Cabo Corrientes, and moving north-northwest at a relatively slow 6 mph. A senior hurricane center specialist, Phillipe Pappin, said this westernmost tip of mainland Mexico was the most likely place for landfall.

“Simon is very close to the coast of Mexico this morning,” Pappin told The Associated Press on Sunday.

“We’re expecting catastrophic wind and life-threatening storm surge impacts along that west central coast of Mexico where the hurricane warning is currently in effect,” Pappin said. “They’re also getting very heavy rainfall associated with the storm that’s likely going to produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides in areas of higher terrain along the Mexican coastline, and there will be significant swells.”

Meanwhile, the hurricane was dumping rain over parts of southwestern Mexico. It could bring 10 to 20 inches of rain in many places, with some areas in the states of Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco receiving up to 30 inches.

Jalisco state suspended classes on Monday in 22 coastal municipalities and began evacuating dozens of people from at-risk areas.

On Saturday, ahead of the storm’s arrival, convenience stores, hotels and other businesses in Puerto Vallarta were boarding up their windows. Few were walking the streets under overcast skies.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t hit us, right? That it doesn’t affect us,” Jesús Gómez said as he stood outside a shop and handed out free samples of candied peanuts to passersby. “We’ll be working as usual throughout the day, but when Civil Protection officials come and tell us we need to close, then we’ll close and take shelter until the storm passes.”

The hurricane center expected a dangerous storm surge “along the immediate coast near and to the east of where the center makes landfall.” The agency warned that near the coast, large and destructive waves will accompany the surge.

Canadian tourist Ed Currie, who, along with his wife, still has five more days to enjoy Puerto Vallarta, said the hurricane had not yet affected his plans.

“Just stay in the hotel and look out the window hopefully,” he said of what the couple would do Saturday. “I just don’t know what to expect.”

Unlike the Atlantic, which saw just its first named hurricane of the season this week with Isaias, the Pacific season has been very active. Simon’s arrival comes on the heels of Polo, which slammed Mexico last week as a Category 2 hurricane before reaching the southwestern U.S. and bringing heavy flooding to the region.