Hurricane Willa closing in on Mexico

Authorities in Mexico are rushing to set up shelters and evacuate people in low-lying areas as Hurricane Willa approaches the Pacific coastline. Forecasters expect the hurricane to weaken from a Category 4 to a Category 3 before it makes landfall Tuesday afternoon. About 8,000 people are evacuating a 140-mile stretch of coastline dotted with high-rise hotels and fishing villages from the resort city of Mazatlán to San Blas. Early Tuesday the storm was centered 150 miles off the coast.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center warned the hurricane will likely bring life-threatening storm surge, wind, and rainfall to parts of west-central and southwestern Mexico. “These areas are very mountainous where it will be making landfall, and that can cause flash flooding and landslides,” said Daniel Brown with the hurricane center. Forecasters anticipate a foot of rain with up to 18 inches in some places. Willa is expected to continue tracking to the northeast, weakening to a tropical depression over the next couple of days as it pushes toward Texas.