The map shows hurricane Erick

Hurricane Erick, the fifth storm of the Eastern Pacific hurricanes season, is intensifying as it continues on a road to Mexico. The National Hurricanes Center said Wednesday morning that Erick will be strengthened quickly throughout the day.
and become a great hurricane as it approaches southern Mexico on Thursday.

At 11 in the morning on Wednesday, Erick had suffered winds of almost 85 mph, with higher gusts and hurricane force winds that extend to 15 miles from its center. The winds of tropical storm force extended to 70 miles from its center.

This map shows the projected path of the storm:

It is forecast that the center of the storm would approach the southern coast of Mexico on Wednesday night and moved on Thursday inland, which caused a warning of Hurricane of Acapulco to Puerto Angel. A hurricane watch has also been issued from western Acapulco to Texpan from Galeana.

The National Hurricanes Center warned that Erick intensifies rapidly and is forecast to become an important hurricane before reaching the earth. The important status begins in Category 3 On the Saffir-Simpson wind scale, with winds between 111 mph and 129 mph, strong enough to cause “devastating damage”, according to NOAA.

“Well -built framed houses can incur important damage or the elimination of the roof cover and the ends of the holes,” says NOAA on the potential impacts of the category. “Many trees will be broken or uprooted, blocking numerous roads. Electricity and water will not be available for several days or weeks after the storm passes.”

The National Hurricanes Center said that “devastating wind damage is possible where the storm core moves on the ground.”

“Preparations to protect life and property should be carried out,” the center said.

Categories 4 and 5 have even higher impacts, with the ability to cause “catastrophic damage,” says the service. That scale, however, only the wind explains.

“The risks of water (dizzy cyconic and interior floods) have historically been the main causes of loss of lives during hurricanes,” says NOAA. “Hurricanes can also bring strong winds, tornadoes, rough waves and hangover currents.”

It is forecast that Erick will produce between 8 and 16 inches of rain, with a maximum total of 20 inches in the states of Oaxaca and Guerrero, said the National Hurricane Center, which leads to “floods and landslides that threaten life, especially in areas of steep terrain.” Chiapas, Michoacán, Colima, Jalisco and Mexico City are expected to see between 3 and 5 inches of rain.

It is also expected that the hazardous cyclonic swells, which is an increase in sea level during storm, create coastal floods and accompany “large and destructive waves.”

Erick is on the way to affect Acapulco, an area devastated by Hurricane Otis In October 2023. Otis arrived in the city as a category 5 and left dozens of dead people after their wind speeds increased by 115 mph in a single day, the second faster registered rate in modern times, according to the National Hurricane Center.

“We have anything left,” said a woman. “Everything is damaged.”

• Weather forecast
• Mexico
• Tropical storm
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