By Christian Ruano
PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico (Reuters) – Mexican rescue workers on Wednesday toiled to clean up damage left by powerful Hurricane Lidia, which battered Mexico’s Pacific coast overnight, killing at least one person, downing trees and power lines, and sparking major flooding.
Lidia barrelled onto land as a Category 4 storm in the western state of Jalisco on Tuesday evening, dumping torrential rains that caused rivers to burst their banks, and leading classes to be suspended in dozens of municipalities.
A man died when a tree fell on his car during the storm near the beach resort of Punta Mita, said Miguel Angel Navarro, governor of the state of Nayarit, north of Jalisco.
Two people were also injured in Autlan de Navarro and Cihuatlan in Jalisco, Laura Velazquez, head of Mexico’s civil protection authority, told a government press conference.
By the early hours of Wednesday morning Lidia had dissipated as it churned through the mountains of western Mexico.
At 0400 central time, the remnants of Lidia were about 145 miles (233 km) north-northeast of Guadalajara, Jalisco’s capital, and moving northeast at 23 miles per hour (37 kph) according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
Authorities in the popular beach resort of Puerto Vallarta listed damage on social media, reporting that Lidia had battered homes and blocked roads as it blew through.
Officials in Nayarit were working to clear fallen trees from a federal highway in the Bahia de Banderas municipality. Authorities said dozens of people sought overnight shelter in temporary accommodations set up within the municipality.
Lidia was expected to dump up to 12 inches (30 cm) of rain in parts of Mexico, risking flash flooding, the hurricane center said.
(Reporting by Natalia Siniawski; editing by Dave Graham, Christina Fincher and Jonathan Oatis)
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