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Hurricane Patricia Loses Power as Mexico Assesses Damage Hurricane Patricia Loses Power as Mexico Assesses Damage
(about 4 hours later)
EL NARANJO, Mexico — The woman stepped into the street to survey her home, whose roof had been shorn from its cinder block base overnight. CIHUATLÁN, Mexico — A day after Hurricane Patricia all but destroyed his home, Roberto García López took the unusual step of going to work.
Her village had been in the direct path of Hurricane Patricia, which officials called the strongest storm ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere. All around her, there was a tableau of destruction: trees, electricity cables and debris from homes strewn across the street. He left the wreck of shattered doors and windows, broken columns and splintered trees, filled a cooler with ocean-caught shrimp and began peddling his wares on the street on Saturday afternoon.
“I built this house little by little, with so much difficulty, and look how it turned out,” said the woman, Rosario Preciado, 70, who was inside her home when the roof began to separate. “It cost me $300 to put on that roof tile.” A short while later, Sabina Montes, a fruit vendor, joined him to peddle cut pineapple, papaya and slaw. Carlos Agustín Manzo, the owner of a store selling bootleg videos and cellphone accessories, also declared himself open for business.
“You know when I’m going to raise that money again?” she asked. “Not for a long time.” “Yesterday there was so much fear, people thought they were going to die,” said Mr. García, cracking a broad smile as he eased the cooler’s lid over the seafood to keep it from the blistering heat. “We’re all just relieved that nothing happened. I can’t tell you how happy I am.”
Hurricane Patricia roared to life in the warm waters over the Pacific, building in intensity so quickly that many were caught off guard. As it approached the coast, it packed winds in excess of 200 m.p.h. Mexico’s government declared a state of emergency in dozens of municipalities in the states of Colima, Nayarit and Jalisco, and thousands of people took refuge in shelters across the region. It might seem odd for a man like Mr. García to call himself blessed the day after a hurricane swept away most of his earthly possessions, items he cannot afford to replace or repair. But throughout some of the hardest-hit areas of Mexico’s Pacific coast, the refrain was the same: feelings of euphoria outweigh whatever grim work lies ahead.
But initial reports on Saturday suggested that the impact of the storm was not as severe as many had feared, and there was no word of deaths caused by the hurricane. Having weathered the worst storm to strike the Western Hemisphere, many Mexicans felt relieved that they suffered only financial damage. For now, there have been no reports of deaths.
Like many residents of the small villages like El Naranjo that dot the Pacific coastline of Mexico, Mrs. Preciado had braced for the worst. On Saturday she was relieved that no one in her village had been seriously hurt. “I’m just so grateful,” said Mr. Manzo, 47, holding his infant son, as a rush of people passed on the street, ducking in and out of the stores that opened their doors the morning after the storm. “People are getting on with their lives.”
The hurricane spared the densely populated centers of Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo; it appears to have done the most damage to villages between the two cities. For many in these impoverished communities, it could take much time to recover from even moderate damage. In the end, Hurricane Patricia left as suddenly as it came. After roaring to life in the warm waters over the Pacific, transforming practically overnight into a Category 5 storm with winds of 200 miles per hour, it had all but dissipated by Saturday morning, little more than 12 hours after touching land. By 4 p.m., it no longer ranked as a tropical storm.
Paul Zúñiga, 42, lives in the fishing village of La Manzanilla, just 25 miles southeast of where the hurricane’s eye passed over the coast Friday evening. That is not to say the damage is not severe. While the hurricane spared the densely populated centers of Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo, it appears to have done the most damage to villages between the two cities. For many in these impoverished communities, it could take much time to recover from even moderate damage.
“I lived on the coast my whole life,” said Mr. Zúñiga, a builder, speaking by phone, “and I have seen a lot of hurricanes. But this was terrible. It wasn’t the water, it was the wind. Oh yes, the sound was very strong, it whistled a lot and in many different ways.” The government has not come up with a total for how much the recovery will cost, but a drive through the affected areas paints a clear enough picture: mangled telephone wires, shards of trees and brush and palm blanketing the street, all manner of street signs, from 30-foot-tall billboards to traffic signs, upended.
For about three hours his family huddled in the house waiting for the storm to pass. He had brought his mother and grandmother to his home to wait out the storm, worried that their house was too fragile to withstand the winds. To prepare, he taped up his windows and moved his cars and his horse into the garage. During the storm, a glass door shattered, exploding shards all over the house. But otherwise his house remained intact. It was a scene repeated up and down the coast, as nervous residents and frazzled tourists awoke to flooded roads and widespread power failures. Rescue workers were sent up and down the western coast to assess the damage.
It was much worse for his neighbors. “All the tin and tiled roofs flew off,” he said. Luis Felipe Puente, the director of Mexico’s civil protection agency, confirmed Saturday that there were no reports of deaths. In a phone interview as he was traveling to Manzanillo to begin a tour of the hardest-hit areas along the coast, he said his reports included some from remote mountain villages where there had been fears of mudslides.
It was a scene repeated up and down the coast, as nervous residents and frazzled tourists awoke to flooded roads and widespread power failures. Rescue workers were sent to assess the damage. One reason there were apparently no fatalities was that people paid attention to warnings. Schools shut down, stores and businesses closed and people heeded the advisories to stay indoors or move to shelters. When trees and lampposts fell, there was nobody outside who could be hurt. “The final result is a recognition that everybody paid attention,” Mr. Puente said.
In the community of Chavarin, another of the small villages along the route north of Manzanillo, flooding was the major culprit. The Marabasco River, which flows beside the village, surged during the storm and claimed property and land. He also noted that the storm lost much of its force when it made landfall and changed its path away from heavily populated areas.
Diego Camacho, a 19-year-old living there, said the waters had swept away nine of his horses. Despite being visibly upset, Mr. Camacho shrugged when asked about the damage.
“We have survived worse things,” he said.
Luis Felipe Puente, the director of Mexico’s civil protection agency, said Saturday that there were no reports of deaths.  In a telephone interview as he was traveling to Manzanillo to begin a tour of the hardest-hit areas along the coast, he said his reports included some from remote mountain villages where there had been fears of mudslides.
One reason there was apparently no loss of life was that people paid attention to the warnings. Schools shut down, stores and businesses closed and people stayed indoors or moved to shelters. When trees and lampposts fell, there was nobody outside.
“The final result is a recognition that everybody paid attention,” Mr. Puente said.
He also noted that the storm lost much of its force when it made landfall and turned away from heavily populated areas.
“This isn’t in the hands of man, it’s in the hands of nature,” Mr. Puente said.“This isn’t in the hands of man, it’s in the hands of nature,” Mr. Puente said.
Roberto Sandoval, the governor of Nayarit, said that with the storm’s detour, Mexico avoided a catastrophe, calling it “a work of God.” Still, the authorities warned that heavy rains could still cause landslides and flash flooding as far away as Texas, where the National Weather Service office in Brownsville, Tex., issued flood warnings for South Texas communities.
As the storm moved inland it weakened. But the authorities warned that heavy rains could still cause landslides and flash flooding as far away as Texas.
“Many hillsides can weaken and collapse with Hurricane Patricia’s rain. Watch out!” warned Mexico’s civil protection agency.“Many hillsides can weaken and collapse with Hurricane Patricia’s rain. Watch out!” warned Mexico’s civil protection agency.
The eye of the storm made landfall on Friday around 6:15 p.m. near Cuixmala in Jalisco State, in southwest Mexico. While powerful, the storm was compact, with the highest winds felt only within about 35 miles of its center.
As it slammed into the coast, the storm was still firmly within the Category 5 range, with winds topping 165 m.p.h., strong enough to lift cars from the street, tear the roofs off house and pull trees up from their roots. But it quickly lost force, slowing to about 130 m.p.h. before 10 p.m.
By 1 a.m. Saturday it had been downgraded to a Category 2 storm, with winds of about 100 m.p.h., and by Saturday morning it was downgraded further, to a tropical depression, with winds below 50 m.p.h.
One local resident, Jesús Alejandro del Ángel Ruiz, 22, took advantage of a lull in the wind and rain Friday night to step out of his home in the Tapeixtles section of Manzanillo and survey the damage. He found fallen trees, branches, light poles and two of his neighbors’ roofs.
“This area we live in gets flooded and that’s what this hurricane left: floods,” Mr. del Ángel said. “A few zinc roofs went flying. The storm lifted them off, even though they had been secured. The storm had the strength to just lift them.”
He said a Category 1 storm that hit the area in 2011 left much heavier damage. It appears that improvements to drainage canals after that storm and the government’s efforts to evacuate vulnerable areas this time paid off, he said.
The governor of Jalisco, Aristóteles Sandoval, speaking at a news conference from Puerto Vallarta, said that there was no “irreparable” damage but that there had been “severe infrastructure damages.”The governor of Jalisco, Aristóteles Sandoval, speaking at a news conference from Puerto Vallarta, said that there was no “irreparable” damage but that there had been “severe infrastructure damages.”
The roads were blocked in many areas by downed trees and other debris, making it hard to assess the damage.The roads were blocked in many areas by downed trees and other debris, making it hard to assess the damage.
“We still need to be alert,” he told reporters.“We still need to be alert,” he told reporters.
In Brownsville, Tex., the National Weather Service issued flood warnings for South Texas communities likely to be hit by heavy rains through Sunday. Experts had originally likened the storm to the deadly Typhoon Haiyan that hit the Philippines in 2013. But such was the anxiety associated with Hurricane Patricia that there was a great sense of relief when the worst failed to materialize.
In North Texas, near Corsicana, a 64-car Union Pacific freight train derailed before dawn on Saturday after heavy flooding washed away a section of the track. Diego Camacho, a 19-year-old living in the community of Chavarin, said the waters had swept away nine of his horses. But he shrugged when asked about the damage.
No one was hurt but two crew members were forced to safety when a section of the derailed train became submerged in the rising waters, according to local authorities. “We have survived worse things,” he said.
In Manzanillo, the damage appeared modest compared with the toll on villages to the north. People took to all manner explanation for why Mexico was spared. Many of those explanations centered on God, even among officials.
The city’s port, built in 1531 and believed to be among the first in all of Latin America, did not appear to suffer significant damage. Consider one of the hardest-hit towns in all of Mexico: Barra de Navidad. The streets of the small village are lacerated with the remnants of Hurricane Patricia: shorn tops of trees, mounds of broken palms fronds, battered rooftops, deposits of thick mud lacquering the streets.
But at least some residents lost their homes, including those who could least afford it. But in Barra de Navidad, the patron saint is a deity known as Cristo de Ciclón, or, roughly translated, the Christ of the Hurricane. This is, after all, a place quite used to forces of nature, frequently weathering storms over the years. And they are looking for all the help they can get.
On Saturday, two residents, Maria Guadalupe González Naranjo and Aleida Guadalupe Arredondo Burgos, commiserated over the loss of their houses. “The church was full this morning, everyone went and thanked him,” said Amada Abraham, a street vendor.
“The little we had was destroyed,” Ms. Naranjo said, seated in a stuffy room of a technical college that was functioning as a shelter in Manzanillo. “We hope the government supports us.” Like other areas in the storm’s path, Barra de Navidad on Saturday was an active work zone. Shopkeepers and homeowners collected the debris from the streets in tidy mounds, placing them on corners or stacking them in the beds of pickup trucks. The swish of brooms could be heard over the dull thud of the ocean, as brackish waves pounded the coastline.
Right now, Ms. Burgos said, her fear is that “we’re going to live in the street.” A short drive away, in the town of Melaque, a similar effort was underway. Police officers were out in force as homeowners cleaned out layers of mud and silt from the floors of their homes. But despite the heavy damage, life was slowly transforming back to normal.
Shops were open, children played in the streets, teenagers strutted around in flocks and old men sat in the park passing the time in the speckled shade. Manuel Montes, 83, said the storm ranked among the worst in the 78 years that he had lived in Melaque. He rode out the storm in his apartment in town, but his real fear was what he would find in the aftermath.
Mr. Montes denounced the lack of electricity and fresh food and the disproportionate toll of the damage that would be borne by the poor. To assess the recovery, he said, he decided to station himself in the park so he could better see the goings-on of his small town. The experience thus far had left him melancholic.
“I guess being alive is better than being dead,” he said. “But I just feel so sad for those whose homes were destroyed.”
Closer to the beach, residents suffered more.
Anna Jáuregui, 23, rocked her daughter to sleep as the rest of her family purged their home of mud and water. Tree branches were banked against the side of the home, where the family weathered the storm Friday night.
Mrs. Jáuregui said that for all the damage, she was simply glad that everyone in her family was fine. And already things appeared to be changing for the better, as the sun bore down on the coastline, less than 100 yards from her front door.
“Yesterday, there was lots of water and wind,” she said. “Today, all you see is sun.”