Two people died after category four Hurricane Lidia hit land just south of Puerto Vallarta on the early evening of Tuesday, October 10, one in Bahía de Banderas, Nayarit and the other in Pihuamo, Jalisco, more than 80 kilometers from the coast.
Lidia made landfall with winds of around 105 miles per hour, but quickly began to dissipate as it moved inland.
The winds downed dozens of electricity lines and trees, and provoked landslides on the coastal highway and inland roads. Several streams and rivers overflowed their banks, while some less-than-robust properties suffered damage to their roofs.
Jalisco authorities had taken precautions by closing the Puerto Vallarta airport and opening 41 shelters for concerned citizens to take refuge from the storm. As of Wednesday afternoon, around 450 people had still not returned to their homes and were being looked after in 27 of the shelters.
Autlán de Navarro, about 80 kilometers northeast of Melaque/San Patricio, was the most affected municipality by the heavy rains. Flood waters reached around one meter in height in several parts of the town, and over a dozen properties were flooded out, along with the regional hospital. The patients were safely evacuated to other facilities.
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