Patricia Now A Tropical Storm As It Moves Inland In Mexico

As it contines to move across Mexico, Patricia has lost most of its strength. It is now a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph.

In the early morning hours of Saturday, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto delivered some very good news: The hurricane, which could be the most powerful on record, had caused less damage than what would be expected for a storm of that intensity and the government had received no reports of deaths.

Still, as the Los Angeles Times reports, the hurricane is moving through “a mountainous region dotted with hamlets that are at risk for dangerous mudslides and flash floods.”

Already, The New York Times reports, the cyclone has toppled trees and light poles and destroyed some homes:

“‘You had to feel how the air trembled,’ said Yael Barragan, a trucking service coordinator in the port city of Manzanillo, huddled in his home with five children and four other adults. When the wind started blowing, it was not long before a neighbor’s roof was in his backyard. ‘I saw it fly, and I saw it land in my patio,’ he said.”

Univision News reports that the governor of Colima, the state most affected by this storm, said that so far they had only received reports of “downed trees” and that they had received no reports of “victims or damage to the infrastructure.”

Authorities are getting ready to begin search and rescue operations this morning.

We’ll update this post as news develops.

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