US and Mexico Brace for Storms Raging in Atlantic and Pacific

(Bloomberg) -- The US and Mexico are set to be hit by major hurricanes roaring out of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans within days as the tropics spring to life, threatening flooding rains, tree-snapping winds and damaging storm surge. 

The first hazard is Hurricane John that grew from a tropical storm to a Category 2 system in just hours in the Pacific on Monday, packing winds of 100 miles (160 kilometers) per hour as it bears down on Mexico, where it will make landfall Tuesday, the US National Hurricane Center said. Meanwhile, a separate system is spinning up in the Caribbean that will likely become a Category 3 storm as it approaches Florida’s Gulf Coast. 

Schools have been canceled in Acapulco and across the Mexican state of Guerrero in anticipation of John, set to come ashore with 120 mph winds near the towns of Puerto Escondido and Copala. 

“John will bring very heavy rainfall to coastal portions of southern Mexico through this week,” Andrew Hagen, a hurricane specialist at the US center, wrote in an outlook. “This heavy rainfall will likely cause significant and possibly catastrophic, life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides to the Mexican States of Chiapas, Oaxaca, and southeast Guerrero, particularly in areas near the coast.” 

A year ago, Acapulco suffered at least 52 deaths and as much as $16 billion in damage when Hurricane Otis rapidly intensified into a Category 5 hurricane just prior to landfall. With the region still recovering, John may drop as much as 30 inches (76 centimeters) of rain through Thursday, and slam the region with deadly winds. 

While Mexico braces for John, Florida residents were being urged to prepare their homes and clean up debris on their property as potential tropical cyclone nine, now 105 miles southwest of Grand Cayman, threatens to grow into Category 3 Hurricane Helene in the next three days as it threads its way through the Caribbean into the Gulf of Mexico. 

The storm already prompted Shell Plc to shut the Appomattox and Stones oil facilities and evacuate non-essential personnel from assets in the Mars corridor, according to a company statement. Chevron Corp. also removed some crews from offshore installations. Rain from the storm may also threaten cotton crops in the South. 

“Take time now to ensure your disaster plan is in place including a fully stocked supply kit for 7+ days for each member of your household,” the Florida Division of Emergency Management said in a post on X. 

In addition to the threat along the US Gulf Coast, hurricane watches and tropical storm warnings are out in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and across western Cuba. After it makes landfall, the storm is forecast to snake its way through Georgia and Tennessee before breaking up over Illinois on Saturday. 

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