Hurricane Jova Threatens Major Misery in Mexico

In a break from activity in the North Atlantic, hurricane watchers like us here at econnexus.org.uk are now suddenly turning their attention to the Eastern Pacific.  At 21:00 UTC last night the National Hurricane Center announced that:

JOVA BECOMES A HURRICANE AS IT DRIFTS TOWARDS THE EAST-NORTHEAST. INTERESTS ALONG THE SOUTHWESTERN COAST OF MEXICO SHOULD MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF JOVA. HAZARDS AFFECTING LAND – NONE.

There may be no hazards affecting land just yet, but take a look at the NHC's latest 5 day forecast:

NHC 5 day forecast track for Hurricane Jova at 09:00 UTC on Sunday October 9th

Jova is currently predicted by the NHC to come ashore in South West Mexico at around 11 PM on Tuesday night as a major hurricane.  This is what Western Mexico looked like the last time a similar thing happened:

In 2008 Hurricane Norbert had reduced to a category 2 hurricane by the time it hit the West coast of Mexico. Nonetheless according to Wikipedia:

About 100,000 people were without power at the height of the storm [in Baja California Sur]

25 people were killed [in Sonora]

The fishing industry in Sinaloa sustained severe losses, with 200 shrimp boats being destroyed leaving MXN 8 million (2008, $600,000 USD ) in damages. Roughly 6,000 people were left homeless.

On October 14, Governor Eduardo Bours Castelo of Sonora announced a two year reconstruction plan for Álamos with an initial budget of MXN 100 million ($7.3 million). The municipalities of Ahome,El Fuerte, Choix, Guasave and the city of Sinaloa de Leyva were declared disaster areas following the storm, allowing federal funding and supplies to be sent to the regions. The government in Sonora provided at least MXN 400 million ($29.5 million) in relief funds following the hurricane. Most of northern Sinaloa was also declared a disaster area.

Here is Tina Barnard's guide on how to survive a hurricane one more time, just in case the current forecasts are even approximately correct.