Around 33,000 Sinaloa and Nayarit residents were affected by Hurricane Willa, a category 3 hurricane that struck the Pacific coast Tuesday night.

Authorities in both states reported flooded homes, overflowing rivers, damaged highways, power cuts, damage to crops and the death of livestock. However, there were no human casualties.

Escuinapa, the southern Sinaloa municipality where the powerful storm made landfall, and Rosario, to its immediate north, bore the brunt of the powerful storm.

The Baluarte River burst its banks, flooding homes in both municipalities where an estimated 20,000 people were affected.

Power went out in several areas of Sinaloa but the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) had restored service to 53% of affected areas by late yesterday.

Sinaloa Governor Quirino Ordaz visited affected areas of the state yesterday to assess damage.

He said that 4,000 people had evacuated to shelters set up by state and municipal authorities, many of whom arrived after their homes sustained damage in the hurricane.

In Nayarit, more than 13,000 people were affected by Willa, which brought winds of 195 kilometers per hour with gusts as strong as 240 kilometers per hour.

The strong wind damaged homes, toppled trees and utility poles and cut power in several municipalities.

Rivers in the state overflowed, livestock drowned and several vehicles were swept away by floodwaters.

Around 15,000 members of the military have been deployed to the Sinaloa-Nayarit border area to assist residents of affected communities.

The navy said in a statement yesterday that more than 3,800 marines, 163 vehicles, eight planes, six boats and three mobile kitchens were deployed as part of its response to Hurricane Willa.

Marines helped 178 people to evacuate yesterday from two Escuinapa communities that had been cut off due to heavy rain.

Willa, which strengthened to a category 5 hurricane earlier this week, weakened rapidly after landfall and was downgraded yesterday morning to a tropical depression.

The National Meteorological Service (SMN) is forecasting that its remnants will continue to bring rain to several states today including Sinaloa, Durango, Nayarit, Nuevo León and Coahuila.

Source: Milenio (sp), El Universal (sp)