Roslyn is downgraded to a tropical storm after leaving material damage in Nayarit and Jalisco

Roslyn demoted to tormenta tropical this Sunday after entering as a major hurricane on the Pacific coast of Mexico, where it left damage, damaged homes, landslides on roads and some flooding.

Roslyn formed as a hurricane on Friday and unexpectedly in a few hours reached category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale (out of 5), being the most powerful phenomenon in the Pacific season.

It made landfall with level 3 in the vicinity of Santa Cruz, in the state of Nayarita town of about 1,200 inhabitants who are mainly dedicated to fishing and agriculture.

Tropical Cyclone Roslyn continues its move on land, now as a tropical storm. At 1:00 p.m. Central Mexico time, it was located approximately 90 kilometers (km) south-southeast of DurangoDurango, with maximum sustained winds of 110 kilometers per hour (km/h), gusts of 150 km/h and moving north-northeast at 31 km/h.

The Civil Protection authorities of the states of Nayarit and Jalisco, the most affected by the phenomenon, reported some material damage, occasional flooding, falling trees and landslides that have interrupted traffic on some highways.

However, he explained that the level of two rivers is being monitored, which is expected to be affected by the rains that Roslyn unleashes once it disperses in the mountains.

damage count

Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, with some 220,000 inhabitants and one of the largest towns in the area affected by the hurricane, began counting the damages after the passage of rain and wind.

“It was a bit scary. The water started to enter our house, we had to take our children out and put them in a high place (…) we were outside in the rain for about 3 hours, my house was destroyed,” he told AFP Erik Newcomer, an American who settled in this spa three months ago.

Foreign visitors abound in this tourist destination and some have lived in the area for a long time, such as Mitch Román, from California, who arrived 17 years ago.

In Sayulita, in Nayarit, some sectors were affected by the flooding of a stream, which left houses buried. As soon as the weather allowed, the villagers tried to rescue their belongings from the mud.

“We have a Mexican handicrafts business, there was merchandise that got wet, it was probably damaged, but there are people who lost more,” said Esperanza Mares, 30, a merchant and real estate agent.

On a journey from Puerto Vallarta to the impact zone in Nayarit, AFP observed a road slide that left a trailer practically buried, causing the closure of the highway.

More than a thousand people in the risk zone left their homes to move to shelters or relatives’ houses.

Likewise, the phenomenon forced to postpone a semifinal match of the Guadalajara Tennis Open, the capital of Jalisco, affected by rainfall on Saturday.

A hurricane greater than category 3 is considered a potentially catastrophic “major” event.

Just two decades ago, Kenna hit the coast of Jalisco as a category 4, leaving four dead and millions in losses.

Roslyn continues to move over land as a tropical storm

During the next few hours, its cloudiness will maintain conditions for intense rains (from 75 to 150 millimeters [mm]) in Durango, Nayarit and the south of Sinaloa; very strong (from 50 to 75 mm) in Jalisco y Zacatecas; strong (from 25 to 50 mm) in Aguascalientes y Colima; wind with gusts of 80 to 100 km/h on the coasts of Jalisco, Nayarit and Sinaloa, and gusts of 50 to 70 km/h in Aguascalientes, Durango, San Luis Potosí and Zacatecas.

Authorities established a surveillance zone for the effects of the tropical storm from San Blas, Nayarit, to Mazatlán, Sinaloa.

The rains caused by this system could generate landslides, increase in the levels of rivers and streams, overflows and floods in areas of the mentioned states, for which the population is urged to heed the warnings of the National Meteorological Service, of the National Commission of the Water, and follow the instructions of the state, municipal and Civil Protection authorities. Maritime navigation in the vicinity of the system is called to take extreme precautions due to conditions of strong winds and waves in coastal areas.

(With information from AFP and Conagua)