MEXICO CITY—Hurricane Rick edged slowly closer to Mexico’s Pacific coast on Sunday, expected to unleash heavy rains north of the beach resort of Acapulco late in the evening, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
Rick was packing maximum sustained winds near 85 miles per hour with strong gusts as it moved northward at about 3 miles per hour.
The storm was located 130 miles south of the beach city of Zihuatanejo in Guerrero state.
The NHC estimated that Rick will strengthen as it draws closer to the coast and bring “life-threatening storm surge and dangerous hurricane-force winds” along a stretch of coastline from Tecpan de Galeana in Guerrero, just north of Acapulco, to Punta San Telmo in Michoacan.
Rainfall in some areas was expected to amount to 20 inches, likely causing flooding and mudslides.
Authorities in Guerrero warned that waves in the Acapulco area and northward could reach between 3 and 4 meters high.
Rick was expected to dissipate by Tuesday, the NHC said.
The coastal states of Guerrero, Michoacan, Colima, Jalisco, and Nayarit states were opening shelters in areas expected to receive heavy rains, a government official told Televisa News.