Hurricane Simon pounds resorts and vulnerable towns along Mexico’s Pacific coast

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico — Hurricane Simon was pounding Mexico’s Pacific coast as a Category 4 storm on Sunday, its eye remaining just offshore as its most powerful winds and rain slammed people living between the Sierra Madre and the ocean.

Simon’s eye was moving northward just off the coast, and forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center said it’s not clear if it will make landfall. This could mean Simon maintains its extremely dangerous strength, sustaining winds of 150 mph (240 kph).

That’s not good news for people in the Puerto Vallarta area, a popular destination for U.S. tourists. Just inland and uphill from the resort areas, many Mexicans live in communities where housing might not stand up to the storm.

At daybreak, Simon was centered about 110 miles (175 kilometers) south-southeast of Cabo Corrientes, and moving north-northwest at a relatively slow 6 mph (9 kph). A senior hurricane center specialist, Phillipe Pappin, said this westernmost tip of mainland Mexico was the most likely place for landfall.

“Simon is very close to the coast of Mexico this morning,” Pappin told The Associated Press on Sunday.

“We’re expecting catastrophic wind and life-threatening storm surge impacts along that west central coast of…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business