Mexico Braces for Hurricanes; 3,000 Evacuated

Authorities evacuated about 3,000 people to shelters Saturday as Mexico’s southern Pacific coast braced for heavy rains and flash flooding while Hurricane Lester churned offshore.

Public safety officers in Oaxaca asked about 500 families to leave their homes in three townships that could be in the path of the storm, the Civil Protection Secretariat in Oaxaca state reported. Authorities in neighboring Guerrero state also reportedly began evacuations.

Lester had 100-mph winds and was about 60 miles south of Puerto Angel, Oaxaca, 300 miles southeast of Mexico City, the U.S. National Weather Service in Miami reported.

It’s the second straight year that a hurricane has threatened the Oaxaca coast in southeastern Mexico, where light rain began falling Saturday. Authorities set up about 500 shelters along the Oaxaca coast in case flooding forces more from their homes.

A hurricane warning was declared for a wide stretch of the southern coast from Salina Cruz to the resort city of Acapulco, the weather service reported. A hurricane watch extended as far west as Zihuatenejo.

Meanwhile, a storm nearing Mexico’s western Pacific coast, Madeline, became a hurricane Saturday when sustained winds reached about 75 mph.

President Ernesto Zedillo ordered 2,000 soldiers to the area to aid residents in case the hurricane comes ashore.

Authorities issued a hurricane warning for a 300-mile stretch of coast from Melaque to Mazatlan, an area that includes the resort of Puerto Vallarta.

The Interior Secretariat said Madeline could make landfall about 65 miles north of Puerto Vallarta.

Late Friday, some of the tons of food and clothing collected to help victims of last month’s flooding in Chiapas state clogged the lobby of the Red Cross building in Huatulco, east of Puerto Angel.

“This was supposed to go to Chiapas. Now we’re going to need it here,” said Jesus Moreno, a Red Cross volunteer.