Hurricane Lane and its eye have just come ashore in rural Mexico. According to NOAH and the National Weather Service, it is still a destructive category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of over 125 mph. Warnings of 6 to 12 foot storm surges and possible flash floods and mudslides have been made as this could be a very devastating hurricane.



Hurricane Lane has already become deadly as it caused its first death with a child crushed by a mudslide and the resulting collapse of the house they were in.

On Saturday morning Hurricane Lane changed course and headed directly inland on the Pacific coast of Mexico. Earlier trajectories and storm tracking plotted the area of Acupulco and the tip of the Baja peninsula similar to Hurricane John from just 2 weeks ago. Regardless, Hurricane Lane is just as strong if not stronger and is a very sizeable hurricane with damaging winds of 125 or more mph.

The most damage may not come from the actual hurricane itself, but the storm surge, flooding, and resultant mudslides as the hurricane goes inland and over hilly and mountainous terrain. The biggest and most devastating hurricane of all time in the east pacific was the Mexico Hurricane of 1959. It came ashore as a category 5 hurricane with over 160 mph sustained winds. Over 1000 people died due to the flash floods and mud and land slides. Many more died from the thousands of venomous scorpions and snakes that were unearthed and misplaced by these mud and land slides. This could very likely happen here with Hurricane Lane as it is powerful enough to unleash similar mud and land slides and flooding.

This could also be greatly impacted, just like New Orleans, in that being rural many people are trapped and cannot get out in time. Emergency workers and help may not be adequate enough and will have a hard time reaching hurricane victims. Also the threat of deadly poisonous scorpions and snakes aggressive from displacement will conjure much fear in the minds of emergency personnel from the memories of thousands of lives lost to these venomous reptiles during the great hurricane of Mexico in 1959.

In preparation many people have been evacuated, but many are left stranded and unable to leave. As the eye of Hurricane Lane moves farther inward we will get more of an idea of the damage and destruction. The hurricane prediction center and the National Weather Service can only predict 3 to 5 days ahead of a storm, but all indications show the hurricane moving inward into more hilly and mountainous regions. This could be a repeat of the great hurricane of 1959 and a terrible disaster for the people on the pacific coast of Mexico and our hearts go out to them.

Copyright 2006 David Maillie