Hurricane Trudy Bears Down on Mexico's Pacific Coast, Bringing Flood Risk

Hurricane Trudy held its strength as it churned toward Mexico's western coast on Saturday, with forecasters warning it could intensify further before starting to weaken on Sunday.

A hurricane warning stretched from Manzanillo in Colima state to Cabo Corrientes in Jalisco. The US National Hurricane Center placed Trudy about 305km (190 miles) south-southeast of Manzanillo early Saturday, packing maximum sustained winds of 150 km/h (90mph) and moving at roughly 13km/h (8mph). The storm was expected to near southwestern and west-central Mexico later Saturday and pass close to the coast overnight into Sunday.

Hurricane conditions were forecast in the warning area Saturday night, with tropical storm conditions spreading across the region during the day. Hurricane conditions were also possible in areas under a hurricane watch.

Trudy was expected to dump 10 to 20cm (four to eight inches) of rain, with isolated totals near 38cm (15 inches), over parts of Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco through the weekend, raising the threat of life-threatening flooding and landslides, particularly on steep terrain. Outer rain bands could bring two to four inches to Guerrero and Nayarit, where localized flash flooding was possible.

The NHC also cautioned about coastal flooding from storm surge in areas exposed to onshore winds, along with large and destructive waves. Swells from Trudy were already hitting parts of the southwestern coast and were expected to spread northward through the weekend, creating dangerous surf and rip currents.

Mexico's navy urged the maritime community and coastal residents to take extreme care because of high waves, heavy rain and the risk of rising rivers, flooding and landslides. Colima state authorities said risks were currently low, but warned the storm could deliver significant rainfall with damaging effects given ground already saturated by successive storms along the Pacific coast.