Flooding, Destruction in Hurricane’s Wake

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico — Hurricane Calvin weakened to a tropical storm late Wednesday after leaving a trail of flooding and destruction along Mexico’s Pacific Coast.

At least 28 people have been reported killed since Monday by winds, floods and storm-related rains from the Yucatan Peninsula to the Gulf of California. More than 18,000 people were forced from their homes.

Along the coast, docks and airports closed as the hurricane moved slowly northward past posh resorts, oil ports and fishing villages. Coconut palms and other trees fell. Dozens of buildings were torn off their foundations or washed away.

By 8:45 p.m., the hurricane was 55 miles north-northwest of Puerto Vallarta, the U.S. National Weather Service said. Its winds were 70 m.p.h., it said. Hurricanes have sustained winds of at least 74 m.p.h.

But the weather service continued to issue a hurricane warning for southern Baja California, 300 miles to the northwest and the next land to be hit by the storm if its path is consistent. It said the storm’s winds could pick up again over the water.

Calvin hit Manzanillo, a city of 93,000, then sliced inland through sparsely populated countryside, bypassing Puerto Vallarta before heading back to sea, said the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Coral Gables, Fla.

There were no immediate reports of deaths in the Manzanillo-Puerto Vallarta region, but phones and power were out in much of the area, many roads were blocked and there was extensive flooding, said Marcelino Rojo of the Civil Protection Agency for Jalisco state.

Officials in Colima state, which includes Manzanillo, said late in the morning that they had not received any reports of deaths.

Mexico Storm

Calvin hit Manzanillo, a city of 93,000 people, with winds of 85 m.p.h. It crept north along the Pacific coast before slicing inland near Puerto Vallarta.