The Yucatán peninsula is the only place in Mexico where you will be able to see Saturday's solar eclipse in totality. (Shutterstock)
The Yucatán peninsula is getting ready to host astronomical events for visitors coming to see the annular solar eclipse on Saturday, Oct. 14, during which the face of the Sun is covered by the moon.
Although a partial eclipse will be visible from other areas in the Americas, the Yucatán peninsula is the only region in Mexico where the eclipse will be seen “in totality,” darkening the Sun’s light by 90.5%.
Oxkintok, along the Puuc route, is one of the ancient Maya sites receiving spectators for the solar eclipse on Saturday morning. (INAH)
Archaeological sites in the states of Yucatán, Campeche and Quintana Roo have announced many activities for Saturday, including viewing the solar eclipse from pre-Columbian pyramids.
According to Eclipses México, the archaeological zones of Kabah, Sayil, Labná, Xlapak, Chacmultún and Oxkintok in Yucatán are within the area of greatest visibility. These sites will allow entrance to visitors who wish to witness the astronomical event.
Chichén Itzá is not within the strip of greatest visibility, however, the site has organized weekend activities that include talks by expert astronomers.
In Quintana Roo, the archaeological zones of Dzibanché-Kinichná, Kohunlich, Ichkabal and Oxtankah will be the best observation sites to view the eclipse. Different planetariums in the state will host viewing parties for and will distribute 4,000 eclipse-viewing glasses and install filters for the 109 telescopes mounted in the planetariums.
The planetariums of Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Cozumel are hosting viewing parties. (Planetario de Cancún/Facebook)
In Campeche, the best archaeological sites to witness the eclipse will be Isla de Jaina, Edzná and Xpujil. Campeche officials of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have announced that visitors to Edzná will be able to bring along their observation or photographic equipment but will need to email in advance.
Jesús Galindo Trejo, a researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) who studies how the Maya observed the cosmos, told The New York Times that local authorities will distribute materials during the events that clarify myths and truths about eclipses in Maya culture.
The Maya communities in the Yucatán peninsula have a well-established astronomical tradition and have accurately predicted the cycles that produce solar eclipses for centuries. Historically, the Maya and other pre-Columbian civilizations are thought to have associated eclipses with adverse events and periods of strife.
Paulina Gerez is a translator-interpreter, content creator and founder of Crack The Code, a series of online courses focused on languages. (Courtesy)
Do you feel like speaking Spanish is a huge insurmountable obstacle, but you really love Mexico – its culture, people and enchiladas? Because of the language barrier, do you feel like you won’t move to this beautiful country or travel easily through Mexico?
As a multilingual translator and interpreter, I want to tell you that I feel and understand you since I was in your place a few years ago, but with YOUR language. Here are some of the tools that helped me move from point A (where you find yourself right now) to point B (a place where you feel confident “hablando español”) so you can embrace all the flavors that Mexico offers, blend in with Mexicans, and start to communicate effectively and naturally.
I’d like to start this journey with you with the first crucial tool: mindset.
We can all learn a new language. The fact that you are speaking English today, is proof that you can acquire Spanish, French, Italian, or any other language. We were born with no language; the thing is that through your parents’ early input, subconsciously you trained your ear enough to start speaking your mother tongue. With this in mind, do you think you would be speaking Chinese if you were born in China? Absolutely yes.
In order to acquire a language, we first need to debunk the myths “or “desmentir los mitos”).
The first and most important myth:
“It is impossible for an adult to learn a new language”. Wrong.
There is a thing called neuroplasticity, which is the ability of neural networks in the brain to change and re-adapt. It offers the potential for each and every one of us to think differently, acquire new knowledge, forget painful experiences, and essentially adapt to anything that life brings us by becoming better. Science explains that from the day we are born to age 25, our neuroplasticity is at its peak, creating and wiring connections together, but after this age, we have to put extra effort in order for these connections to keep rewiring themselves. So, while it might feel harder to learn a new language as an adult, the brain does not lose the ability to create new connections. The good news is that learning Spanish as an adult is possible.
Our best ally to help us achieve our goal of learning a language “es tener un por qué” (“having a why”). We have to trigger ourselves with reasons why we must learn the language, and we have to create those reasons for ourselves.
An example that has worked wonders for me is thinking: “If I don’t learn the language, I will never be able to ask for help if I find myself in a difficult situation in Mexico.”
“I won’t be able to talk to that person I really liked at that restaurant.” (Psst … I met the love of my life thanks to the fact that we both spoke another language, but this is another story).
“I will lose job opportunities because I can’t hold a proper conversation.”
Or the simple fact that you won’t be able to travel at ease and experience the humor and the wit hidden in the language itself to have a sense of the authentic Mexican experience. I encourage you to write down your reasons and visualize vividly missing all those wonderful experiences and let them all be the essence of why you want to learn Spanish.
I’m so looking forward to sharing stories and articles that will help you learn some Spanish words and phrases that will help you move around this culturally rich country.
Paulina Gerez is a translator-interpreter, content creator, and founder of Crack The Code, a series of online courses focused on languages. Through her social media, she helps people see learning a language from another perspective through her fun experiences. Instagram:paulinagerezm / Tiktok:paugerez3 / YT:paulina gerez
The Santa Ana was a Spanish ship that was sunk by English privateers in 1587 near Cabo San Lucas. (Wikipedia)
In the 16th Century, the Manila galleon was a fleet of Spanish merchant ships that made the perilous trip along the trade route between the Philippines and Acapulco, which was the only port authorized by the Spanish to handle the Manila trade. At the time, Manila was under Spanish rule and was the wealthiest and most strategic port in the world, connecting trade between East and West.
Spain was able to maintain the Manila galleon trade route for 250 years. It finally ended in 1815 during the Mexican War of Independence. One historian notes, “the Manila galleon was one of the most persistent, perilous and profitable commercial enterprises in European colonial history.” In addition to bringing Spain the wealth of Asia, the Manila galleon introduced new exotic spices to Mexico that are now prevalent in cuisine throughout the country, including cumin, and cinnamon.
In the late 1500s, the rivalry between Spain and England was at its peak and piracy between the two empires became commonplace. To destabilize Spanish power in the Americas, Queen Elizabeth I gave her English privateers — essentially authorized pirates — permission to attack Spanish merchant ships. Some of England’s most famous privateers, including Walter Raleigh and Francis Drake, were active during Elizabeth’s time.
According to historian Peter Gerhard, author of “Pirates of the Pacific, 1575-1742″:“piracy in the Pacific was undertaken only by the hardiest of pirates.” “If caught,” Gerhard writes, “they were dealt with quite harshly for the Spanish looked upon them as unprincipled thieves and scoundrels.” English pirates captured by Spain could be sentenced to death or turned over to the Mexican Inquisition.
Although piracy was quite common at the time in the Caribbean, it was not as prevalent on the Pacific coast of South or Central America. As a result, Gerhard writes, Spanish possessions on the Pacific were not as heavily fortified. For pirates, this was an opportunity — a dangerous one. In a time before the Panama Canal, getting to the Pacific coast of Mexico or South America meant crossing “the jungles of Central America or [making] the long and dangerous trip through the Strait of Magellan or around Cape Horn.”
The privateer Sir Francis Drake was the first. On his 1577 raiding voyage — during which he became the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe — Drake’s crew raided and pillaged Spanish settlements and ships up and down the Pacific coast of the Americas.
The Manila-Acapulco galleon symbolizes the close cultural links between the Philippines and Mexico. (Wikipedia)
Nine years later, 27-year-old privateer Thomas Cavendish, known in history as The Navigator, decided to follow in Drake’s footsteps. He became the most famous pirate of the Pacific.
In July 1586, Cavendish sailed from Portsmouth, England with a crew of 123 and three ships. After sailing through the Strait of Magellan, they reached the Pacific in February 1587 and proceeded to loot villages and capture Spanish ships as they sailed up the coast to Mexico.
In October, Cavendish reached Mazatlán and dropped anchor just off Deer Island. After repairing their ships and taking on supplies, they sank the supply ship and headed for Cabo San Lucas to lie in wait for the next Manila galleon.
The Santa Ana was a large ship weighing over 600 tons manned by 100 sailors and carrying passengers, including women, under the command of Captain Tomás de Alzola.
On November 4, the Spanish ship Santa Ana slowly sailed along the coast of Baja California under brilliant blue skies and favorable winds. She had left Manila four months earlier laden with Oriental treasure: gold, pearls, and silk from China; ginger, cloves and cinnamon from the Spice Islands; rare jewels from Burma; and ivory from India. The Bishop of the Philippines described her as “the richest ship to ever leave these isles.”
On the 14th of November, as the overloaded ship passed Cabo San Lucas, the lookouts sighted sails in the distance. Captain Tomás de Alzola reduced the sails and ordered camouflage netting to be hung. Weapons were issued to the 160 passengers and crew. Despite carrying such valuable cargo, the Santa Anahad no cannons on board: on a previous trip, the cannons were left behind to protect the port of Acapulco.
Fierce hand-to-hand combat erupted when sailors from the Desire attempted to board the Santa Ana. Their first attempt was unsuccessful. At least two seamen and the captain of the Santa Ana chronicledthe battle that ensued.
Spotting the Santa Ana, the Desire and Content gave chase, catching up with the larger vessel in about 4 hours. At 600 tons, the Santa Ana, was a veritable fortress but wasso heavily laden with treasure that it could not maneuver and had no cannons to fight back.
After several hours of battle, the Santa Anastarted to sink and finally struck her colors and surrendered. Captain Alzola chronicled that “on the third day, the seventeenth of November, they [Spanish crewmen] went to the Port of San Lucas under threat of death.”
Once the British Desire and Content were laden with as much booty as they were able to carry, they set off separately for England. The richly laden Content was never heard from again.
Thomas Cavendish returned to England in 1588 a wealthy man and a hero. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I on the deck of the Desire. He set out again for a second raid of the Pacific coast but never made it, dying at sea at the age of 31. Tales of his exploits, however, spread to pirates worldwide and increased the number of privateers who pursued riches on the Pacific coast of the Americas.
The captain and crew of the Santa Anawho were abandoned at Cabo San Lucas were able to repair the ship well enough that they made it to the Mexican mainland and eventually south to Acapulco. It was the largest loss suffered by a Spanish galleon in the 250-year history of Acapulco-Manila trade.
The fate of the Content and the treasure it carried remains shrouded in mystery. However, the dream of its pirate treasure has endured through the ages. Legends of the ship have been passed down through the Indigenous peoples of Baja California.
One legend refers to a wooden ship found stranded in a bay with the dried-up corpses of men on board. Natives purportedly built a fire on the ship’s deck, inadvertently setting fire to and sinking the entire ship. Another legend places the Content in a sheltered bay on the Pacific north of Cabo San Lucas, but 400 years of storms and tides would have buried any evidence.
The rich treasure of the Content allegedly consisted of millions of silver pesos in addition to the plunder from the Santa Ana. While many have searched for it over the years, the peninsula has not yet yielded the ship’s location.
Many people believe that the treasure of the Santa Anais still out there.
Sheryl Losser is a former public relations executive, researcher, writer, and editor. She has been writing professionally for 35 years. She moved to Mazatlán in 2021 and works part-time doing freelance research and writing. She can be reached at AuthorSherylLosser@gmail.com
Two planes carrying 276 passengers left Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on Tuesday and will arrive in Mexico on Wednesday. (Sedena/X)
Amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, two Mexican Air Force planes carrying 276 Mexican passengers departed the Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
The two humanitarian flights are scheduled to land at the Felipe Ángeles International Airport near Mexico City on Wednesday afternoon after stopovers in Turkey, Ireland and Canada.
Two Mexican air force planes evacuated Mexican citizens who had been unable to leave the country. (SRE/X)
“Each of the 276 people coming from Israel represents a life saved and families reunited. Mexican women and men with a name and surname,” Foreign Affairs Minister Alicia Bárcena said on social media platform X on Wednesday morning.
Mexico’s ambassador to Israel, Mauricio Escanero, reported that the first flight carrying 135 passengers left Israel just before midday local time on Tuesday. Members of Mexico’s rhythmic gymnastics team, which had been in Israel to train for the upcoming Pan American Games, were among the passengers.
The second flight carrying 141 passengers departed a few hours later.
“It’s an honor to carry out the work that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador entrusted us with,” Escanero said in a video message filmed at the airport.
The Mexican citizens left Tel Aviv, Israel on Tuesday. (SRE/X)
“… For me, as ambassador, it has been very moving to feel the solidarity that the entire group [of people] in charge of this [first] flight have shown,” he said.
The crews on the two humanitarian flights consisted of military personnel including doctors as well as officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE). They were warmly received by Mexicans who had been unable to leave Israel since the Hamas attacks began last Saturday.
“A miracle was performed,” said Miriam Bolaños, a passenger on the first Air Force flight out of Israel.
Blajaith Aguilar, coach of the rhythmic gymnastics team, expressed her gratitude to the Mexican government and other people “who have supported us” during a few scary days in Israel.
Israel informed the Mexican government that Ilana Gritzewsky and Orión Hernández Radoux were taken as hostages by Hamas. (Images retrieved from X)
“We’re finally returning home. We’re very excited and happy,” she said in a video shared by the SRE.
Other passengers on the first humanitarian flight expressed similar sentiments, thanking Mexican authorities and indicating they were happy to be returning home.
López Obrador said Tuesday that 1,000 Mexicans had expressed their desire to leave Israel to Mexican authorities. Bárcena said that the government was working on more “departure options.”
Hurricane Lidia was downgraded as it continued its path over mainland Mexico on Wednesday, causing flooding and damage to infrastructure. (@altonivel/X)
Hurricane Lidia made landfall as a Category 4 storm late Tuesday night near Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, leaving several injured and one dead after a tree fell on top of a vehicle.
The hurricane continues to weaken as it moves inland over Zacatecas, and all warnings for the Pacific coast of Mexico have been discontinued.
#Relevante | Así se encuentra en estos momentos la zona del malecón de Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco ante la llegada del huracán Lidia categoría 4 pic.twitter.com/ZpULVVS1sZ
The United States’ National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported wind speeds of 165 km/h as Lidia hit the coast of Jalisco at approximately 6 p.m. local time.
Lidia then moved over southern Nayarit before continuing north of Guadalajara, with sustained winds of up to 120 km/h. The NHC downgraded the hurricane to Category 2 early Wednesday morning, and expects it to dissipate over the next day.
Authorities in Jalisco and Nayarit reported flooding, roof damage and road blockages. The Puerto Vallarta city government reported that dozens of trees had been downed near the pier.
In a video posted on social media platform X, Jalisco Governor Enrique Álfaro Ramírez said that the impacts of the storm were “not nearly as terrible as they could have been” thanks to the more than 3,000 first responders. “Their work was extraordinary and the outcome was very positive,” the governor continued.
Many roadways are blocked or flooded on Wednesday as the Pacific coast recovers from Hurricane Lidia. (@EnriqueAlfaroR/X)
In addition to minor damages to homes and roads, the hurricane caused several rivers to overflow in the municipality of Autlán de Navarro, flooding the first floor of the regional Autlán hospital. On Wednesday, schools suspended or modified classes in affected areas of Jalisco, Colima and Nayarit.
In its final statement on the storm, the NHC said that “swells will continue to affect the west coast of Mexico and the Baja California peninsula through today…and are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.”
According to Mexico’s National Meteorological System (SMN), heavy rain is forecast today for Colima, Jalisco, Nayarit and Zacatecas, as well as strong winds in areas of Coahuila, Durango and San Luis Potosí.
A panoramic view of San Miguel de Allende, Travel + Leisure's best city in the world for 2024. (Shutterstock)
In the wake of Mexico’s restoration to an FAA Category 1 aviation safety rating, there has been a flurry of new flight routes announced to the U.S. from popular beach destinations, but also from interior hotspots.
While the colonial city and international travel destination San Miguel de Allende does not have its own airport, the two nearest international airports will now offer more connectivity to U.S. destinations.
San Miguel de Allende is conveniently located between two international airports in Querétaro and León. (Jezael Melgoza/Unsplash)
Flights between Querétaro and the U.S.
Starting Dec. 1, Viva Aerobus will offer a new non-stop flight to the city of Querétaro from San Antonio International Airport (SAT).
Querétaro is 66.5 kilometers away from San Miguel de Allende.
The low-cost carrier will fly the route on Mondays and Fridays, operating an A321 aircraft with a capacity for 240 seats.
“Querétaro is an important destination when it comes to both business and leisure travel,” said Jesús Saenz, head of airports for the San Antonio Airport System.
Earlier this month, Marco Antonio del Prete Tercero, head of Querétaro’s Sustainable Development Ministry (Sedesu), announced that Querétaro International Airport will offer two new daily routes to Atlanta, Georgia and Detroit, starting in the first quarter of 2024. Mexican carrier Aeroméxico will operate these routes in partnership with Delta Airlines.
Viva Aerobus will offer three weekly flights from San Antonio to León (BJX) in 2024. (Wikimedia Commons)
Flights between Bajío International Airport to the U.S.
Starting March 2024, Viva Aerobus will also expand its existing flights from San Antonio to the Bajío International Airport (BJX), located near León, Guanajuato (86.6 kilometers away from San Miguel de Allende) to three flights per week.
This new route joins the existing nonstop flights from San Antonio to Guadalajara, León/Guanajuato, Mexico City, Monterrey and Cancún.
Aeroméxico announced plans to open two new routes between BJX and the cities of Atlanta and Detroit, via its codeshare partnership with Delta.
According to the state’s Ministry of Tourism, “Guanajuato is on the right track” to attract more international travelers to the most important airport in Mexico’s central region.
If found guilty by the agency, Walmex could face fines of up to 8% of their annual income. (Shutterstock)
Shares in Walmart’s Mexico subsidiary slumped on Monday after it emerged that the retail giant is under investigation for possible monopolistic practices.
On Friday, Walmex announced that the Federal Economic Competition Commission (Cofece), Mexico’s antitrust authority, had summoned it to “an administrative procedure in the form of a trial” regarding the findings of an investigation into alleged anticompetitive practices, initiated in 2020.
CEO of Walmex Guilherme Loureiro during an event held by former president Enrique Peña Nieto in 2016. (Galo Cañas/Cuartoscuro)
Walmex has 45 working days to prepare its defense, after which the panel will decide whether the company has violated Mexican antitrust law.
“Walmex is confident that it has always acted in accordance with applicable law to ensure the best prices, quality and choice to its customers,” the companysaid in a statement.
On Monday,Cofece announced that it had initiated proceedings against “a company,” after an investigation established “probable vertical fixing of prices and/or other monopolistic practices related to the market for the supply and distribution of consumer goods by chains of self-service stores in the national territory.”
It did not name Walmex as the company in question or specify what offenses it is accused of, but did say that they are considered illegal practices under Article 56 of the Federal Law on Economic Competition (LFCE).
Mexican families spend more than half of their income on consumer goods including food, beverages and cleaning supplies, according to Cofece. (Depositphotos)
Cofece’s statement noted that Mexican families spend more than half of their income on consumer goods including food, beverages and cleaning supplies, making this sector a priority for the antitrust watchdog. Walmart owns the majority of chain supermarkets in Mexico, operating Bodega Aurrera, Superama and Sam’s Club in addition to the supermarkets operated under its own name.
“It’s about the imposition of a price, or other conditions, with a distributor or supplier,” José Manuel Haro, head of Cofece’s investigative unit, told Reuters. “The economic agent in question is making an imposition, and could be distorting the process of free competition.”
The crimes listed under the LFCE all involve manipulation by a dominant market power. They include practices such as conditioning the sale of one good on the purchase of another; pressuring or colluding with other companies to boycott another; and using the profits from one product to lower the price of another to below-cost price in order to displace competition.
In 2019, Reuters reported that Walmart had penalized companies supplying goods to rival Amazon, a possible anti-competitive practice. Haro declined to give more details about the current probe until Cofece releases its final decision. Such processes often take months.
Companies found guilty of crimes under the LFCE can face fines of up to 8% of their annual income. After news of the investigation emerged, shares in Walmex slumped over 5% by Monday afternoon, reaching their lowest level in more than 30 months.
The airline now offers daily flights to Cancún from seven hubs in the United States. (Jeramey Lende/Shutterstock)
With the winter season approaching, Southwest Airlines has begun to increase its weekly capacity to major tourist destinations in Mexico.
The low-cost airline now operates a weekly flight between Los Cabos and Kansas City on Saturdays, and has increased its frequencies and seat capacity to Cancún, Quintana Roo, from several destinations in the United States.
Southwest Airlines, based out of Dallas, went from operating 46 weekly flights to Cancún in September to 70 weekly flights in October. (Shutterstock)
According to the website Simple Flying, the airline has increased its flight capacity by 600% for routes from Kansas City, Austin and St. Louis to Cancún, from one weekly flight to daily flight service.
The airline’s routes to Cancún from other destinations in the U.S. have also expanded – Baltimore now offers nine weekly flights, Denver eight weekly flights, Houston 21 weekly flights, and Chicago eight weekly flights.
The airline went from operating 46 weekly flights to Cancún last month, to 70 weekly flights in October.
With the new routes, the airline now operates the third largest number of weekly flights from the U.S. to Cancún, only behind American Airlines and United Airlines, which currently operate 155 and 108 weekly flights to the sunny destination, respectively.
Between September and October, the overall number of flights from the U.S. to Cancún increased by 14.7%. (Elizabeth Ruiz/Cuartoscuro)
Between September and October, the overall number of flights from the U.S. to Cancún increased by 14.7%, offering 15.3% more seats, according to data retrieved by Simple Flying.
Dallas has 60 weekly flights to Cancún, making it the U.S. city with the largest number of weekly flights to the beach destination.
Flooding and dangerous storm surges are forecast for Puerto Vallarta this evening as Lidia makes landfall. Surrounding states can expect tropical storm conditions. (@juanmazatlan/X)
Hurricane Lidia – a category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour at midday Tuesday – is bearing down on a stretch of Mexico’s Pacific coast where the resort city of Puerto Vallarta is located.
The United States National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in a statement at 12 p.m. Mexico City time that Lidia “should make landfall within the hurricane warning area” between Manzanillo, Colima, and El Roblito, Nayarit, on Tuesday evening or overnight.
Se localiza a 260 km al suroeste de Puerto Vallarta, Jal.
🔺Permanece en tu hogar o refugio temporal hasta que las autoridades informen que el peligro terminó
🔺Atiende las instrucciones de las autoridades pic.twitter.com/cGPAcUQrCH
— Coordinación Nacional de Protección Civil (@CNPC_MX) October 10, 2023
That area encompasses the entire coast of Jalisco, including Puerto Vallarta, the northernmost coastal municipality in the state.
Other municipalities in the hurricane warning area include Cabo Corrientes in Jalisco and Bahía de Banderas, Compostela and San Blas in Nayarit.
The Associated Press reported Tuesday morning that Lidia was “expected to sweep over a spit of land around Cabo Corrientes before hitting the bay where Puerto Vallarta is located, which could cushion the blow somewhat.”
At midday, Lidia was 260 kilometers southwest of Puerto Vallarta and moving in an east-northeasterly direction at 24 km/h, the NHC said.
Category 3 Hurricane Lidia will touch down by Tuesday night near Puerto Vallarta. (@ddmexico/X)
“A faster east-northeast motion is expected through tonight,” the Florida-based forecaster said, adding that maximum sustained winds had increased to near 185 km/h with higher gusts.
“Additional strengthening is forecast and Lidia will likely be at or near major hurricane strength when it reaches the coast. Rapid weakening is expected after Lidia moves inland,” the NHC said.
The center said that hurricane conditions were expected to reach the warning area later on Tuesday afternoon.
“Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion,” it said.
The NHC also said that tropical storm conditions were expected this afternoon between Punta San Telmo, Michoacán, and Manzanillo, and between El Roblito and Mazatlán, Sinaloa.
The center said that Lidia is expected to produce rainfall totals of 4-8 inches (10-20 cm) across Nayarit, southern parts of Sinaloa and the coast of Jalisco. Local maximums could reach 12 inches (30 cm), it said.
The eye of the storm is visible just off the coast of Jalisco. Dangerous storm surges are expected to develop over the next few hours. (noaa.gov)
“These rains will likely produce flash and urban flooding, along with possible mudslides in areas of higher terrain near the coast,” the NHC said.
The center also warned of a “dangerous storm surge” that is “expected to produce significant coastal flooding near and to the south of where the center [of Lidia] makes landfall.”
“Near the coast, the surge will be accompanied by large and dangerous waves,” it added.
Authorities in Colima, Jalisco, Nayarit, Sinaloa and Baja California Sur canceled classes in some or all municipalities within their borders due to the proximity of Lidia. Residents of some coastal communities have already left their homes for shelters, which have been set up in several municipalities including Puerto Vallarta.
Jalisco Governor Enrique Alfaro said on X, formerly Twitter, that an “emergency operations center” has been set up in Puerto Vallarta and that authorities from all three levels of government will work from there “to protect Jalisco residents” as Lidia approaches and passes over the state.
Authorities in Colima, Jalisco and Nayarit have all made preparations for the arrival of the powerful hurricane.
Towns along the hurricane’s path are preparing for coastal flooding from Lidia. (@PacoGuillenMX/X)
Lidia is the 12th named storm of the 2023 Pacific hurricane season, which began on May 15 and runs through Nov. 30.
Both deaths occurred in the coastal municipality of Técpan de Galeana, located southeast of Zihuatanejo.
Damages on the coastline near Acapulco. (CARLOS CARBAJAL/CUARTOSCURO.COM)
One person died after a public transport van plunged into a sinkhole on the Acapulco-Zihuatanejo highway, while another lost his life when he was swept away by a raging river, according to state authorities.
The Guerrero Ministry of Comprehensive Risk Management and Civil Protection (Sgirpc) said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that one of two people in the public transport van was rescued alive and taken to hospital for treatment, but the other died due to “asphyxia by submersion.”
The Sgirpc said that the sinkhole near the Cuajilote bridge was caused by heavy rain brought by Max.
A second storm-related death occurred when a man was swept away by a river while working on his farm in the community of Nuxco. Authorities were able to rescue other people who found themselves in dangerous situations, including two people who were “trapped” in a tree for some 10 hours due to the swelling of the Técpan River.
The governor of Guerrero, Evelyn Salgado said shelters have been set up for those affected by the storm. (Evelyn Salgado/X)
“After several attempts during recent hours, … this morning, with the help of a helicopter from the Ministry of the Navy, we managed to carry out the rescue of two people safe and sound,” Sgirpc said Tuesday morning.
Media reports said that a married couple and their daughter were in the tree.
In addition to swelling rivers and damaging highways, rain brought by Max flooded over 90 homes, according to Sgirpc. The storm also felled scores of trees in Guerrero after making landfall in the municipality of Petatlán.
Shelters were set up in the municipalities of Técpan, Petatlán, Coyuca de Benítez, Acapulco and Zihuatanejo, according to Governor Evelyn Salgado.
In the community of Tetitlán in Técpan, 50 families affected by the storm received assistance from state authorities and the army, Sgirpc said.
“A damage census was carried out in the area and the evacuation of people was supported,” the ministry said.
The United States National Hurricane Center said early Tuesday that Max had dissipated after moving inland over Mexico.
However, there is little respite for Mexico’s Pacific coast, with Hurricane Lidia – a Category 3 storm at midday Mexico City time – forecast to make landfall between Manzanillo, Colima, and El Roblito, Nayarit, on Tuesday night or early Wednesday. That area includes the entire Pacific coast of Jalisco.
