Hurricane Willa: Southwest Mexico feels impact of 'extremely dangerous' storm
Updated 18:08, 27-Oct-2018
[]
02:39
As Hurricane Willa closes in on Mexico's Pacific coast, residents are racing to get out. Thousands have evacuated, while shops and businesses in some resort areas were ordered to close. The storm has weakened as it approaches land, but is still considered 'extremely dangerous. CGTN's Alasdair Baverstock reports from part of the Pacific coast already feeling its effects.
Mexico's Pacific coast and the calm before the storm. Hurricane Willa, described as 'extremely dangerous' by the U.S. National Hurricane Center. Residents prepared for the worst, protecting what they could before fleeing inland to higher ground.
ALEXIS CARILLO SAN BLAS RESIDENT "The majority of the people and the restaurants, with their tables and fridges, have all gone. Everything is gone. The shops are boarded up."
Not everyone is fleeing. For some, the hurricane is a lesser concern.
RUBEN MARISCAL LOCAL RESTAURANT OWNER "I'm not going to evacuate because many people around this area, when they see that things are left alone, they come and steal them. If I see that things become really bad, I have my motorbike here to escape."
Meteorologists warn the hurricane - a Category Three - could be the worst to hit Mexico's west coast in years.
ALASDAIR BAVERSTOCK MEXICO'S PACIFIC COAST "Hurricane Willa's ferocity surged from a tropical storm on Saturday morning, but then swelled to the maximum Category Five on Monday before weakening to Category Three on Tuesday morning. As it makes landfall here it will bring 200-kilometer winds and more than 45 centimeters of rain in some places - posing a serious landslide threat."
The storm's eye, its center, is expected to pass over the coastal town of Teacapan in the state of Sinaloa, wreaking destruction as it goes.
GONZALO TORRES SAN BLAS RESIDENT "My plan tomorrow is to come and help my people in any way I can, and then continue with work. Everything has to return to normal as quickly as possible."
Further south, Tropical Storm Vicente has already left at least 12 people dead in the state of Oaxaca, as landslides struck the coast.
The Pacific Coast communities are prepared, but many residents expect to return to a very different scene. Alasdair Baverstock, CGTN San Blas, Mexico.