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Hurricane Willa makes landfall on Mexico coast

The storm brought 120 mph winds.

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Hurricane Willa swept onto Mexico’s Pacific mainland with 120 mph winds on Tuesday night, hitting an area of beach towns, fishing villages and farms.

The US National Hurricane Centre said the dangerous Category 3 storm hit near Isla del Bosque in Sinaloa state. Federal officials said there were early reports of power blackouts in some places and damage to flimsy structures with tin roofs.

The storm was moving inland at 10 mph and was forecast to quickly begin losing power.

Willa came ashore about 50 miles south-east of Mazatlan, a resort city that is home to high-rise hotels and about 500,000 people, including many US and Canadian expatriates.

The sun sets, as Hurricane Willa makes landfall, in Mazatlan, Mexico
The sun sets, as Hurricane Willa makes landfall, in Mazatlan, Mexico (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

Alberto Hernandez, a hotel worker in the town of Teacapan, close to where the storm made landfall, expressed confidence before it hit that the building would hold up. He and his son, who also works at the hotel, were staying on the job, but the rest of his family had left the area.

“We’ve had rain all day. There is nobody in the streets. Everything is closed,” Mr Hernandez said. “But not everyone wanted to leave, even though authorities made it clear that he who stays does so at his own peril.”

Torrential rains began in the afternoon, and emergency officials said they evacuated more than 4,250 people in coastal towns and set up 58 shelters ahead of the dangerous storm.

The storm also battered the Islas Marias, a group of Mexican islands about 60 miles off the mainland that include a nature preserve and a federal prison. Authorities declined to comment on precautions that were taken at the prison, citing security concerns, but said the safety of prisoners was a priority.

A surfer rides a wave before the arrival of Hurricane Willa in Mazatlan
A surfer rides a wave before the arrival of Hurricane Willa in Mazatlan (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

Some families went to a Mazatlan convention centre, which opened its doors as a shelter. They spread out blankets along the walls and waited for the storm.

Forecasters said the hurricane could bring 6 to 12 inches of rain — with up to 18 inches in some places — to parts of Jalisco, Nayarit and Sinaloa states, with flash flooding and landslides possible in mountainous areas.

Farther to the south, the remnants of Tropical Storm Vicente brought heavy rain that caused deadly flooding and mudslides. Federal disaster agency chief Luis Felipe Puente said 11 people had died as a result of Vicente. Local officials earlier put the figure at 12.

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