Hurricane Patricia, the strongest weather disturbance in recorded history, roared into southwestern part of Mexico on Friday, unleashing devastating winds and rains to an area where luxury resorts and impoverished villages are located.
Fortunately, the Category 5 storm caused less damage than feared on Mexico's Pacific coast on Saturday, only pounding an isolated part of the shoreline dotted with luxury villas and fishing villages with its 165 mph (266 kph) winds, Reuters reported.
It made landfall at Mexico's Pacific coast, particularly in the Cuixmala area some 85 km away from the port city of Manzanillo.
The hurricane packed maximum winds of 200 mph (320 kph) when it hit land, according to the United States National Hurricane Center as quoted by a BBC report.
At this rate, World Meteorological Organization spokeswoman Claire Nullis said Hurricane Patricia can "get a plane in the air and keep it flying."
Patricia became a tropical storm on Thursday and quickly gained tremendous power as it closed in on the Mexican coast. Meteorological authorities compared it to Typhoon Haiyan, which killed over 6,300 people in the Philippines in 2013.
Thousands of residents and tourists staying at the port city of Manzanillo were evacuated at least three blocks inland before Patricia made landfall, seeking refuge in hastily arranged shelters, reports said.
There were no early reports of deaths and it appeared major damage was averted as Patricia missed tourist centres like Puerto Vallarta and the major cargo port of Manzanillo, according to Reuters.
However, the storm cut a path of destruction in small rural villages, ripping corrugated metal roofing off houses and uprooting trees, with the winds sucking the leaves off them.
After it made landfall, Patricia rapidly lost power. By Saturday afternoon, it had degenerated from a tropical depression with maximum winds down to about 30 mph (48 kph), the Miami-based Hurricane Center said.
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto said the damages left by Hurricane Patricia "have been minor to those corresponding to a hurricane of this magnitude."
Nevertheless, Patricia still posed threats of flooding and landslides as it was forecast to pour heavy rains on several Mexican states, particularly the states Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, Michoacan, and Guerrero.
Peña Nieto advised Mexicans in the storm's path to remain indoors.
"However, it's important for the population to remain in shelters. We can't let our guard down yet. I insist, the most dangerous part of the hurricane has yet to enter the national territory," the Mexican leader said.
