Puerto Vallarta boards up as Hurricane Simon hits Category 4 strength

According to the National Hurricane Center, Simon was about 100 miles (65 kilometers) south-southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico on on Saturday and moving slowly northward.

Jalisco state suspended classes on Friday and Monday in 22 coastal municipalities and began evacuating dozens of people from at-risk areas. It also asked the tourism sector in Puerto Vallarta, a popular destination for U.S. tourists, to ensure that both workers and visitors were fully accommodated in shelters or safe zones by Friday afternoon.

Convenience stores, hotels and other businesses in Puerto Vallarta were boarding up their windows Saturday morning, when few were walking the streets under overcast skies.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t hit us, right? That it doesn’t affect us,” Jesús Gómez said as he stood outside a shop and handed out free samples of candied peanuts to passersby. “We’ll be working as usual throughout the day, but when Civil Protection officials come and tell us we need to close, then we’ll close and take shelter until the storm passes.”

The hurricane center expected a dangerous storm surge “along the immediate coast near and to the east of where the center makes landfall.” The agency warned that near the coast, large and destructive waves will accompany the surge.

Meanwhile, Canadian tourist Ed Currie, who along with his wife still has five more days to enjoy Puerto Vallarta, said the hurricane had not yet affected his plans.

“Just stay in the hotel and look out the window hopefully,” he said of what the couple would do Saturday. “I just don’t know what to expect.”

The Associated Press

by The Canadian Press

Puerto Vallarta boards up as Hurricane Simon hits Category 4 strength

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