The state of Jalisco is under alert as Hurricane Blanca passes along the Pacific Coast this weekend on its way to Baja California.
The Health Secretariat this week sent personnel to coastal towns to provide provisions and reinforcements in case the hurricane impacts the region.
“We have sent two brigades of 30 in each unit so there are 60 people in total lining the coast between Cihuatlan and Puerto Vallarta,” said Health Secretary Jaime Agustin Gonzalez Alvarez. “The Civil Protection Unit will also be on the alert. We’re working with them.”
Mexico’s Meteorology Institute downgraded Blanca from a level three to a level two hurricane, after it almost reached level five, the most severe grade on the Saffir-Simpson scale. The U.S. National Meteorological Service, however, warned that very heavy rain can be expected in Jalisco, Michoacan and Guerrero along with a risk of strong winds and hail.
The hurricane is expected to make landfall in Baja California Sur early Monday morning, by which time forecasters predict that the storm will have weakened.
Residents of the southern part of the peninsula are nonetheless being advised to monitor the storm’s progress, given that only eight months ago the Baja municipality of Los Cabos was hit by Hurricane Odile, destroying as many as 8,000 homes and businesses.
On May 27, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center (CPC) released its forecast for the year, highlighting a 70-percent chance of an above-average season with 15 to 22 named storms, 7 to 12 hurricanes and 5 to 8 major hurricanes
Names assigned for the 2015 hurricane season are: Andres, Blanca, Carlos, Dolores, Enrique, Felici, Guillermo, Hilda, Ignacio, Jimena, Kevin, Linda, Marty, Nora, Ola, Patricia, Rick, Sandra, Terry, Vivian, Waldo, Xina, York and Zelda.