By Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Raul Cortes
Sept 22 (Reuters) - Hurricane Polo, which earlier on Tuesday reached Category 5 strength, the highest possible, continued intensifying off Mexico's Pacific coast, posing life-threatening flooding risks, the US National Hurricane Center said.
Despite its proximity and the heavy rains it will bring, Polo is expected to move slowly off the coast in the next couple of days and shift its trajectory heading farther from the shore, an NHC advisory added.
"A turn toward
the northwest and west-northwest is expected tonight and Wednesday," NHC warned. "On the forecast track, the core of Polo is expected to be near the coast of southwestern Mexico during the next few days, although forecast to remain offshore."
With maximum sustained winds near 165 mph (270 km/h), some additional strengthening is likely through Tuesday night. A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Hurricane Hunter aircraft is en route to investigate Polo, the advisory added.
Polo, classified by the NHC as "extremely dangerous", is currently located some 205 miles (335 km) south of the tourist town of Zihuatanejo and 345 miles south-southeast of the port city of Manzanillo.
Rainfall in the coastal states of Guerrero and Michoacan is expected to produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides, while less harmful rains are also expected in coastal portions of Oaxaca, Colima and Jalisco states, NHC said.
Mexican authorities warned of intense rainfall forecast for western and southern parts of the country, which could cause rivers to overflow.
Private forecaster AccuWeather noted that the storm’s reach could extend to tourist destinations such as Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta, while southern Baja California Sur, including the Los Cabos area, could also face storm surges and strong wind gusts by Sunday.
Afterwards, the storm could track farther inland and towards the US but will be influenced by an interaction with Tropical Storm Odalys, which could keep the hurricane farther offshore and limit tropical moisture from reaching the southwestern US.
Polo’s strong winds and rains are also expected to reach Lazaro Cardenas and Manzanillo, the country’s main ports.
“So far, the information we have is that (Polo) will not make a direct landfall on the coast; it will skirt around (...) particularly the states of Jalisco, Colima, and Michoacan. And I urge everyone along the Pacific coast to remain very vigilant,” said President Claudia Sheinbaum during her regular morning press conference.
In 2023, Acapulco suffered the fury of Hurricane Otis, considered the strongest tropical cyclone ever to make landfall on the Mexican Pacific coast. The storm, which struck in late October, left at least 68 confirmed deaths, according to Guerrero's state Attorney General's Office, and caused approximately $16 billion in damage, according to estimates from Mexican business associations.
(Reporting by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez in Barcelona and Raul Cortes Fernandez in Mexico City; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Kim Coghill and Aurora Ellis)
