Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico – Hurricane Roslyn slammed into a sparsely populated stretch of Mexico’s Pacific coast between Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan early Sunday morning and quickly moved inland. The Category 3 hurricane came ashore in Nayarit state, in roughly the same area where Hurricane Orlene made landfall Oct. 3.
Víctor Manuel Cornejo López, meteorologist of the Scientific Committee for Civil Protection of Puerto Vallarta and Bahía de Banderas, explained that the powerful Category 4 hurricane “passed 107 kilometers away from Puerto Vallarta and continued its trajectory, entering the coast of Nayarit as a major category hurricane, with winds of 195 kilometers per hour.”
While it missed a direct hit, Roslyn brought heavy rain and high waves to Puerto Vallarta, where ocean surges lashed the coastline and the Malecón.
Civil protection officials said authorities patrolling the area had not reported any major damage, but some businesses along the Malecón and some beachfront businesses in the downtown area were battered by strong waves that reached businesses up to a block above the beach.
Víctor Hugo Roldán Guerrero, general director of the State Civil Protection and Fire Department of Jalisco, reported that, given the strength and power with which the Cat 4 storm moved, the effects left by Hurricane Roslyn were minor, and that no human losses were recorded in the state.
In Puerto Vallarta, he indicated that the worst damage was in the Las Glorias area due to flooding, and 8 fallen trees affecting 4 vehicles.
Most activities in the port city are back to normal. The airport resumed operating at nine o’clock this morning, but the cruise ship port remains closed – at least for today.
With information from Tribuna de la Bahía and Vallarta Opina.