Sept 23 (Reuters) – Hurricane Polo’s rainbands reached Mexico’s Pacific coast on Wednesday, posing life-threatening flooding risks, the US National Hurricane Center said.
Polo is expected to remain offshore, but its core will stay near the coast of southwestern Mexico during the next day or two, bringing heavy rain.
Conditions are expected to worsen, and the states of Guerrero and Michoacan could face between 3 and 8 inches (8 and 20 cm) of rain through Thursday, the NHC added in an advisory.
The heavy rainfall is expected to produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides in those states, and also affect nearby coastlines in Oaxaca, Colima and Jalisco.
With maximum sustained winds near 155 mph (250km/h), and higher gusts, Polo is a Category 4 hurricane, after reaching Category 5 earlier.
“Fluctuations in intensity are expected, but Polo is expected to remain a very powerful major hurricane during the next few days,” the agency added.
Mexico’s government said it was coordinating efforts to strengthen preparedness and prevention measures along the Pacific coast.
Command posts are active in the states of Michoacan, Colima, Jalisco, and Guerrero, the Security Ministry said in a statement.
“They are coordinating risk assessment inspections, condition evaluations, preparation of temporary shelters, and, if conditions require it, preventive evacuations,” the ministry added.
(Reporting by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez in Barcelona; Editing by Kim Coghill)
