As the third anniversary of Hurricane Sandy approached, Mexicobraced for the onslaught of Hurricane Patricia, predicted to causewidespread damage as it reached Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpsonwind intensity scale. Heeding the warnings from the U.S. NationalWeather Service and similar government entities in Mexico, touristsevacuated and residents prepared for the storm.

Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide estimates that insuredlosses to onshore properties in Mexico from Hurricane Patricia willnot exceed $200 million (MXN 3.3 billion). Six hours beforeHurricane Patricia made landfall in the Mexican state of Jalisco,it was the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded by theNational Hurricane Center (NHC) in their domain, which covers theAtlantic and East Pacific ocean basins. Fortunately, hurricanescannot sustain such extreme intensity for long, AIR explained, andby the time Patricia reached the coast—about 55 mileswest-northwest of Manzanillo—maximum sustained winds had fallenfrom 200 mph to 165 mph. (A 185 mph sustained wind speed wasrecorded by a weather station in Cuixmala, but the NHC has warnedthat the observation has not been confirmed.) Still a Category 5storm at landfall, however, Hurricane Patricia brought powerfulwinds, torrential rains, and a damaging storm surge to a relativelysparsely populated stretch of the Jalisco coastline.

According to the NHC, Patricia made landfall at around 6:15 p.m.CDT on Friday, Oct. 23, near the town of Cuixmala in Jalisco statein southwestern Mexico, between the resort city of Puerto Vallartaand the major port city of Manzanillo. Although the hurricanelooked impressive in satellite imagery prior to landfall, AIRWorldwide said, the wind field was relatively small. Category 5wind speeds extended just 15 miles from the center of the storm andhurricane-force winds extended outward just 35 miles from theeye.