Hurricane Simon lashes Mexico’s Pacific coast, pounds resorts and towns

Hurricane Simon weakened Monday to a Category 2 storm, but it continued to pound the coast of west-central Mexico as its eye remained just offshore. 

Dangerous winds were expected to keep lashing the region into Monday afternoon, threatening coastal areas with flooding rain, said the U.S. National Hurricane Center. With its center still swirling near the coast, Simon’s most damaging winds and rain were forecast to persist near the Puerto Vallarta area, a coastal town known for its beach resorts.

The storm’s maximum sustained winds have decreased to 105 mph, below the 111 mph needed to make it a major Category 3 storm, as it was previously categorized, according to the hurricane center. Simon had been weakening gradually since the early hours of Monday morning, but forecasters warned that it could strengthen again, and, regardless, it remained a dangerous hurricane.

As of the hurricane center’s latest update, Simon was moving slowly westward off the Mexican coast. But the storm was expected to change directions mid-week, and eventually approach the coast of west-central Mexico on Wednesday into Thursday.

“Some additional weakening is forecast today, but Simon could re-intensify some on Tuesday and Wednesday and is expected to remain a hurricane through midweek,” the center said Monday. “Rapid weakening is likely after Simon moves inland late this week.”

Puerto Vallarta is a popular tourist destination in the state of Jalisco. Just inland and uphill from the resort areas, many Mexicans live in communities where housing might not stand up to the storm.

Simon is expected to bring heavy rain to the U.S. Southern Plains from Tuesday afternoon through Friday morning, CBS News and Stations Meteorologist Nikki Nolan points out. That region could see 3 to 5 inches of rain and more in some places.

On Monday, Simon’s eye was about 60 miles west-southwest of Cabo Corrientes and inching westward at about 2 mph.

A senior hurricane center specialist, Philippe Papin, said the westernmost tip of mainland Mexico is the area most likely to get a direct hit from the system. Cabo Corrientes is at the southern tip of Bahia de Banderas, the wide bay where Puerto Vallarta looks out to the Pacific.

Hurricane-force winds were extending outward up to 15 miles and tropical-storm-force winds were reaching up to 60 miles from Simon’s center, meaning the entire area between Mexico’s western coast and the Sierra Madre mountains could be affected.

“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,” Papin 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.”

The hurricane center said early Monday that Simon was expected to dump an additional 2 to 4 inches of rain, with some areas getting up to 8 inches, in the states of Colima, Jalisco, Nayarit and Sinaloa through early Thursday.

“Isolated maximum storm totals of 30 inches are possible over portions of the states of Michoacan, Colima, and Jalisco,” the center said in its latest advisory. “This rainfall will produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides or worsen any ongoing flooding, especially in areas of steep terrain.”

As the storm approached Puerto Vallarta, National Guard vehicles patrolled the streets while police used a megaphone to call out the few people who were jogging, walking their dogs or biking by the waterfront. Officers reminded people that the area was closed and urged them to take shelter. Not everyone followed the orders.

Jalisco state suspended classes on Friday and Monday in 22 coastal municipalities and began evacuating people from at-risk areas while asking the tourism sector to make sure workers and visitors are fully accommodated in shelters or safe zones.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum took to social media to urge people in Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit and Michoacan to stay sheltered until the government issues a notification that the danger has passed. She also asked people to follow recommendations from civil protection officials and to avoid traveling on public roads.

“Precautionary evacuation efforts to safe zones are ongoing; the priority is our safety,” she wrote.

Hotel worker Víctor Martínez went shopping for nonperishable food Sunday afternoon. He said he couldn’t go to work because public transportation service was suspended and most of the hotel had been evacuated.

Martínez found people’s concerns about the hurricane comforting.

“It happened to us before. It hit us years ago,” Martínez said, referring to a Category 5 hurricane that hit the area in 2002. “People didn’t expect it. We were very skeptical that it would ever hit us. Now, though, we’re different. Precautions are being taken. It happened to us once, and we won’t let it happen again.”

Despite the risks posed by Simon, tourists were still arriving in Puerto Vallarta.

Visitors Ricardo Ramírez and Brenda Villarreal, who have never lived through a hurricane, went looking for food by the city’s boardwalk and came across police urging people to take shelter. Ramírez said they were completely unprepared for the situation.

“The boardwalk is closed. Be responsible. Understand!” police told passersby using a megaphone.

Ramírez said he and Villarreal had planned their four-day vacation since last year and traveled from Guadalajara, Jalisco’s capital.

“We don’t know the extent of the danger yet,” Villarreal said. “We’re just starting to see what’s going on.”

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.