MEXICO CITY -- The powerful Hurricane Polo poured bands of heavy rain across Mexico’s Pacific coast Thursday while a growing Tropical Storm Nolo approached Hawaii with the potential for catastrophic flooding. Polo has seesawed between Category 4 and 5 -- both major-hurricane strength-- and is on track to skirt Mexico’s coast over the next few days. Rain and strong winds were already pummeling the coast, with waves crashing onto the normally pristine beaches. While the eye and the strongest winds were expected to remain at sea, heavy rains could cause life-threatening flooding and landslides, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. Farther west in the Pacific, Tropical Storm Nolo was churning a couple hundred miles from the southern tip of Hawaii’s Big Island. Nolo was forecast to strengthen and bring hurricane conditions to there by Friday night. A hurricane watch was issued for the island and schools were closed for the rest of the week. Forecasters said the storm could drop 20 inches (50 centimetres) of rain on the Big Island, with higher amounts possible through Saturday. The island of Maui could also be hit with life-threatening floods, the hurricane centre said. The series of hurricanes come as the weather phenomenon El Nino prompts major environmental shifts across the world, fuelling drought in some areas and flooding in others. As El Nino traditionally dampens the Atlantic hurricane season, it tends to rev up tropical cyclone activity in the Pacific, with moist air and little wind shear. Polo could bring flooding and mudslides to Mexico’s Pacific coast Mexican authorities were busy preparing shelters and clearing people from beaches, while coastal residents stacked sandbags in front of their businesses in fear that they might get swept away. Much of the worry from locals came from hurricanes in past years that devastated cities along the Pacific coast. Hurricane Otis in 2023 unexpectedly plunged Acapulco into turmoil for weeks. “So many people said it wouldn’t happen and then it did. After that, you’re left on edge,” said Gonzalo Ramirez, a bartender in the city. Guerrero state was particularly at risk of life-threatening flooding and mudslides, the hurricane centre said. Polo was swirling about 195 miles (315 kilometres) west-southwest of Zihuatanejo early Thursday. It was forecast to move further out to sea before turning back toward the coast Saturday. The storm was expected to remain a major hurricane for the next few days. Hurricane-force winds extended up to 40 miles (65 kilometres) from the eye and tropical-storm-force winds extended up to 125 miles (205 kilometres). The region most under threat from Polo is further south along the rural and mountainous coast of Michoacan and Guerrero, scattered with a few small tourist towns and ports. Much of the area is marked by poverty and residents routinely complain they are left to fend for themselves during natural disasters. Mexican authorities have deployed 15,000 security personnel across the coast, set up hundreds of shelters and suspended schools as a precaution. Authorities didn’t immediately say how many people had been evacuated. Projections from the U.S. National Hurricane Center show Polo could arc back as a weakened storm and hit Mexico’s Baja California on Tuesday. Another hurricane could hit Hawaii as soon as Friday The National Weather Service said Tropical Storm Nolo would likely strengthen before closing in on the Big Island on Friday. The storm has the potential to be a major hurricane, said John Bravender, a weather service warning co-ordination meteorologist, during a news conference Wednesday afternoon. While high winds are expected, Bravender said the main concern is flash flooding. He the heavy rainfall coming to the Big Island could impact the same southeastern region hit hard in August by Hurricane Lala. “That by itself could cause catastrophic flooding, but when you put that on top of grounds that we’ve been raining off and on for the last couple of months … that rain could cause even more damage,” Bravender said. Hawaii officials told residents to put together emergency kits and the governor issued an emergency proclamation, activating more than 230 Hawaii National Guard members. Kauai’s electric co-operative urged residents to prepare for “the possibility of prolonged power outages,” and to store nonperishable food and potable water. Over 100 Kauai households remain without power from Hurricane Lowell, which passed west of the island less than three weeks ago. Hawaiian Electric, the state’s primary utility, said crews would return to at-risk areas in preparation for the coming storm. Odalys and Fay are not near land In the northern Atlantic Ocean, Tropical Storm Fay re-formed early Thursday, the U.S. hurricane centre said. It was nearly 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) west-southwest of the Azores. In the Pacific, Hurricane Odalys was centred about 1,110 miles (1,785 kilometres) west-southwest of the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula. ___ Megan Janetsky and Gabriela Aoun, The Associated Press Aoun reported from San Diego. Associated Press writer Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.
