The intensification of the storm caught officials off guard, and updated evacuation orders were rushed through.
Hurricane John made landfall on Mexico’s southern Pacific coast late Monday with winds of up to 120 mph.
John hit costal regions rapidly intensifying into a Category 3 storm just hours after being classified as a tropical storm.
There are concerns that rapidly intensifying storms are becoming more common as the oceans warm, according to experts.
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The intensification of the storm caught officials off guard, who rushed to update evacuation orders.
Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador urged coastal residents to seek shelter immediately, warning of dangerous storm surges and flash floods.
“Seek higher ground, protect yourselves, and remember that life is irreplaceable”, López Obrador wrote on social media platform X (formally Twitter).
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The U.S. National Hurricane Center had earlier warned of “life-threatening” conditions along the coast, and by the time John made landfall near Punta Maldonado, significant flooding was already underway.
