By Dante Alfaro
EL PARAISO, Mexico, Sept 25 (Reuters) – Hurricane Polo regained Category 5 strength on Friday as it moved away from Mexico’s Pacific coast and into open waters, while forecasters tracked a separate disturbance to the south that could develop into another tropical cyclone in the coming days.
At 8 a.m. local time, Polo was about 470 km (290 miles) southwest of Cabo Corrientes, Mexico, with maximum sustained winds of 285 kph (180 mph), the US National Hurricane Center said. The storm was moving west at 19 kph (12 mph) and is expected to continue on that track before gradually turning northwest and north over the weekend.
The Miami-based forecaster said Polo could approach Baja California Sur early next week as a major hurricane, although current projections show it passing north of the Los Cabos resort area.
Polo continued to generate rough surf, heavy rain and strong winds along parts of Mexico’s Pacific coast on Friday after forcing evacuations, port closures and school cancellations earlier this week. In El Paraiso, a beach community in Colima state, powerful waves swept stones into streets near the shore and damaged beachfront properties.
“We do have damage from the hurricane,” said Efren Pacheco, town commissioner of El Paraiso. “Thank God there have been no deaths, but there is considerable material damage. The sea has not calmed down.”
Even as Polo moved away, forecasters warned Mexico’s Pacific coast could face another storm threat. The NHC said a tropical depression could form late this weekend or early next week in Polo’s wake.
Polo is expected to dump 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 cm) of rain across parts of Baja California Sur, with isolated totals of up to 10 inches (25 cm), enough to trigger life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in steep terrain, the NHC said.
The NHC also warned that swells generated by the storm would continue affecting southwestern Mexico over the next couple of days before spreading north along west-central Mexico and the Baja California peninsula through the weekend, bringing dangerous surf, rip currents and possible coastal flooding.
Forecasters have also warned that heavy rain and possible flooding could reach the US southwest late next week.
(Reporting by Dante Alfaro in El Paraiso, Mexico, and Diego Ore and Kylie Madry in Mexico City. Additional reporting by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez. Editing by Mark Potter)
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