Hurricane Erick hits Mexico as a Category 3 hurricane

At around 5:30 a.m. this Thursday (Mexico time), Erick made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale (the maximum is 5), the National Meteorological Service announced.

The storm hit the municipality of Pinotepa Nacional, on the border of the states of Oaxaca and Guerrero, with maximum sustained winds of 205 kilometers per hour and gusts of 250 kilometers per hour.

Erick is the first hurricane of the 2025 season to hit Mexican territory and the most powerful on record for a June hurricane.

According to weather forecasts, Erick was expected to hit the coast as a Category 2 hurricane; it was later reported that it would reach Category 3, but shortly before midnight on Wednesday, before making landfall, it reached Category 4.

After making landfall as a Category 3 hurricane, it is expected to begin weakening.

The rainfall generated by the storm, which will continue throughout the day, could cause landslides, rising river and stream levels, as well as overflows and flooding in low-lying areas of the aforementioned states. Therefore, the population is urged to heed the warnings from the National Meteorological Service (SMN) and follow the recommendations of Civil Protection.

At 6:30 a.m., torrential rains and strong gusts of wind affected the power grid, mainly in the Zicatela beach area of ​​Santa María Colotepec; in Puerto Escondido, power has been intermittent.

Meanwhile, the cell phone network has experienced outages, leaving the population without communication. At the Puerto Escondido Harbor Master’s Office, strong waves swept away some boats that were in the area.

The state government reported the closure of the Mitla-Tehuantepec Highway and Highway 190 Oaxaca-Istmo due to a series of landslides caused by heavy rainfall.

It is important to note that at 6:15 a.m., the landslide occurred approximately 30 kilometers east of Punta Maldonado, Guerrero, according to the meteorological service.

During the next few hours, intense to torrential rains will continue, along with sustained winds of 60 to 200 kilometers per hour (37 to 125 miles per hour) with gusts of 100 to 220 kilometers per hour (62 to 130 miles per hour), and waves of 4 to 10 meters (13 to 33 feet) high in Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Chiapas. The rainfall will also occur in Veracruz and southern Puebla.

Source: lajornadahidalgo