Colorado Travelers Stuck In Danger Zone Of Patricia
PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico (CBS4)- Record-breaking Hurricane Patricia appeared to leave remarkably little damage as it moved rapidly inland over mountainous western Mexico early Saturday and weakened to tropical depression status. Authorities warned it could still cause deadly floods and mudslides as some travelers from Colorado waited to come home.
Nick Rodriguez from Denver awoke Friday morning to emergency sirens in Puerto Vallarta.
"It's kind of scary," said Rodriguez.
He couldn't get a flight out before the storm hit and decided to hunker down in the hotel.
"The hotel seems pretty sturdy and it's mostly all cement so hopefully that helps," said Rodriguez. "Right now we're just trying to be positive and do what we can do. We already boarded up our windows with tape."
His mother, Vickie Rodriguez, watched his interview with CBS4 as she waited to learn when her son could return home.
"I do hope to gosh that tape is strong," said Vickie. "I just hope the storm isn't as bad as they're anticipating it... If something goes terribly wrong in life, that was my last time to see my son."
Patricia, which peaked as the strongest hurricane on record in the Western Hemisphere, made landfall Friday on a sparsely populated stretch of Mexico's Pacific coast as a Category 5 storm, avoiding direct hits on the resort city of Puerto Vallarta and major port city of Manzanillo.
There were reports of some flooding and landslides, but no word of fatalities or major damage as the storm pushed across inland mountains while bypassing the metropolis of Guadalajara overnight.
Rodriguez is scheduled to return to Denver on Sunday.
"Just in case, if I never get to see my son that video will mean a lot more to me," said Vicki.
Patricia formed suddenly Tuesday as a tropical storm and quickly strengthened to a hurricane. Within 30 hours it had zoomed to a Category 5 storm, catching many off guard with its rapid growth.
By Friday it was the most powerful recorded hurricane to hit the hemisphere, with a central pressure of 880 millibars and maximum sustained winds of 200 mph (325 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center.
