Hurricane Lidia slams Mexico's coast leaving widespread damage

[October 11, 2023]  (Reuters) - Rescue workers on Wednesday were scrambling to clean up the mess left by Hurricane Lidia, which slammed into Mexico’s Pacific coast overnight, leaving one person dead in the western state of Nayarit.  

People walk by a restaurant damaged in the aftermath of Hurricane Lidia, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico October 10, 2023. REUTERS/Christian Ruano

Lidia, which has weakened to a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 110 km/h, is expected to continue producing heavy rainfall and gusty winds as it moves inland over west-central Mexico, the National Hurricane Center said.

Lidia made landfall as a Category 4 storm triggering torrential downpours, causing rivers to overflow, toppling trees and leading to significant flooding in numerous western states of Mexico.

Officials in Nayarit were working to clear fallen trees obstructing Federal Highway 200 in the Bahía de Banderas municipality. The authorities reported that 136 individuals sought overnight shelter in temporary accommodations set up within the municipality.

Civil Defense authorities in the beach resort city of Puerto Vallarta catalogued the damage on social media, reporting inundated canals and instances of rooftops being swept away by the storm.

Lidia is expected to dump up to 8 inches (20 cm) of rain through Wednesday, though some areas could see up to 12 inches, the NHC said.

(Reporting by Natalia Siniawski; editing by Christina Fincher)

[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2022 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.