(Bloomberg) -- Hurricane John, a compact but powerful storm, came ashore on Mexico’s Pacific coast — pushing a dangerous surge in front of it and unleashing deadly flooding rains across the states of Guerrero and Oaxaca.
The storm hit Guerrero at about 9:15 p.m. local time, with tree-snapping winds reaching up to 220 kilometers (136.7 miles) per hour, according to the Mexican government. That makes it a Category 3 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale that may trigger floods and landslides across the region.
The authorities had urged people to take “extreme precautions.” Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado Pineda said in a post on X that she had ordered all temporary shelters in the state’s coastal areas to be opened.
The state, where the hurricane made a landfall, is bracing for significant flooding and a “life-threatening” storm surge, according to an advisory issued earlier by the US National Hurricane Center. Heavy rain is expected along the coast of Oaxaca and southeast Guerrero, with some areas getting up to 76 centimeters (30 inches) of precipitation through Thursday, it said.
Mexico’s National Coordination of Civil Protection, a government body, has issued “maximal danger” warnings for southeast Guerrero and southwest Oaxaca, where sea waves as high as 23 feet (7 meters) are expected.
John struck Mexico’s Pacific coast less than a year after Hurricane Otis devastated the resort-city of Acapulco, killing at least 52 people and causing as much as $16 billion in damage and losses. Otis struck as a Category 5 system and was one of the nation’s costliest natural disasters.
The storm also made landfall just days before President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum is set to take office on Oct. 1, raising the stakes for the incoming administration to manage the crisis on her first days in office.
As it neared shore, John rapidly intensified with its winds doubling in speed on Monday and growing stronger overnight. A hurricane rapidly intensifies when its winds grow by 35 miles per hour in 24 hours — making its true power dangerously unpredictable for officials charged with keeping the public safe.
--With assistance from Ben Sharples.
(Updates to add details from second paragraph.)
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