A dying Patrician brought high winds and torrential rainfall to the already battling Texas state. Water covered roads and drivers were left stranded. Rescue boats dotted the city as flooded underpasses and even sinkholes continued to swallow vehicles.
A freight train in North Texas, close to Corsicana, overturned and two crewmembers escaped by swimming to higher grounds. A man in San Antonio was swept away by floodwaters while going after his dog and was found walking on the side of a road later on Saturday.
The system is now moving east with major flooding being reported in Texas. Intense rainfall can be expected over Louisiana, lower Mississippi, and along the Gulf Coast. This may lead to flooding in areas where rain persists.
Hurricane Patricia will always be remembered as a storm that had more bark than bite. Perhaps the strongest, and one of the fastest intensifying storms in the history of record-keeping, fizzled out in no time causing way less damage than previously anticipated.
Updated on October 25, 2015 at 9:45 am IST: After uprooting trees, toppling power lines, and triggering the evacuation of thousands, the strongest Hurricane on record, Patricia has finally weakened to a low pressure area.
It would seem that the fastest developing storm in the history also turned out to be one of the fastest dying out storms. The storm has, however, sound the alarm for floods in parts of United States. Texas, and mainly coastal parts of the state, have already received public warnings.
Mexico managed to dodge a bullet as the actual scale of damage was nowhere close to the anticipated scale of devastation. Initial reports suggest that very few or no casualties have been reported so far.
Story first published on October 24, 2015: Hurricane Patricia, the strongest hurricane on record in Western Hemisphere, finally made landfall in the Cuixmala area of Jalisco state, Western Mexico.
The severe storm was accompanied by torrential rains, and devastating winds, as it rushed at a speed of 265 kmph at the time of landfall.
The storm had already hit Category 5 while making landfall, which is the highest classification for a cyclonic storm. This was the most powerful storm ever to hit the United States.
Thousands of residents living in the affected area were evacuated and moved to shelter homes. However, no casualties have been reported so far. Hundreds of tourists are also stranded in the coastal city. As per media reports, a state of emergency was declared in three states falling in Patricia's path.
The Hurricane has now weakened slightly, after few hours of hitting the coast, and is now a Category 4 storm. The storm is now moving inland in the northeast direction across southwestern Mexico. According to meteorologists, life-threatening flash floods and mudslides are now predicted in the rural areas, as the storm is now moving inland towards mountains and villages.
Although Patricia has weakened, winds of 155 kmph are still blowing over the region. Incessant rainfall is expected over several places on Saturday as the hurricane progresses further. The adjoining states of Colima and Nayarit will all be affected by Hurricane Patricia, in the form of heavy and possibly mudslides. They have already reported good amount of rain in the span of last 24 hours.
Thereafter, hurricane Patricia will be moving towards US. Texas and Louisiana are already on high-alert as torrential rains and floods are expected to lash the region on Sunday. According to US National Hurricane Center, the hurricane will further weaken into a tropical storm during the next few days.
(Featured Image Credit: cbc.ca, via AP)