Hurricane Polo pounded Mexico’s southwestern coast as Hurricane Nolo gained strength and took aim at Hawaii.
Hurricane Polo lashed Mexico’s southwestern coast this week as it fluctuated between Category 4 and 5 strength, while Hawaii prepared for its third hurricane threat of the year from Hurricane Nolo.
The National Hurricane Center said Polo was expected to regain Category 5 status on Friday as it tracked along the Mexican coastline. In the port city of Lazaro Cardenas in Michoacan, seawater swept through homes on Thursday and left furniture and wooden planks scattered across streets. Restaurant owner Alicia Contreras said 15-foot waves severely damaged her business.
“This is huge because we have no other source of income. Now we’re just surviving,” she said.
Mexican authorities deployed 15,000 security personnel along the coast, closed schools, opened shelters and evacuated residents from high-risk areas, though officials haven’t stated how many people were moved. Polo poses its largest threat to the neighbouring states of Guerrero and Michoacan, where coastlines are dotted with small ports, fishing villages and tourist towns.
Hawaii prepares for Hurricane Nolo
Across the Pacific, Nolo became a hurricane on Thursday night and was expected to strengthen further as it turned toward Hawaii’s Big Island. Forecasters warned the island could receive 15 to 30 inches of rain through Saturday, with higher totals possible, while Maui faced potential life-threatening flooding.
The heaviest rainfall was projected for the southeastern portion of the Big Island, where the ground remains saturated from Hurricane Lala in August. John Bravender, a warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Honolulu, said that area suffered washed-out roads and flooded, isolated communities during Lala.
“There are several communities that were isolated, flooded, roads that were washed out,” Bravender said. “It’s that same area that is most under threat.”
Hawaii has already experienced major flooding in the spring, an earthquake and two other hurricanes since mid-August. “In my 20 years of experience here, I’ve never seen three hurricane watches for the islands in the same year,” Bravender said.
Hawaii’s governor issued an emergency proclamation, activated more than 230 National Guard members and closed schools for the rest of the week. Hawaiian Electric moved repair crews from Kauai, where they had worked after Hurricane Lowell earlier in the month, to Oahu, Maui and the Big Island.
Other storms developing in the Atlantic and Pacific
Two other storms remained far from land: Hurricane Odalys in the Pacific and Tropical Storm Fay in the North Atlantic. Forecasters said a third system, Tropical Storm Gonzalo, could pass near or over Cape Verde on Friday.
The storms developed during an El Nino weather pattern, which warms parts of the Pacific Ocean and tends to fuel cyclone activity while dampening the Atlantic hurricane season.
