Mexico City.- The Cyclone Orlene disappeared this Tuesday from Mexican territory with minor damage in the west of the country despite having hit the states of Sinaloa and Nayarit with force, according to authorities.
The phenomenon made landfall on Monday as a category 1 hurricane in the municipality of Escuinapa, Sinaloa, but the state governor, Rubén Rocha Moya, ruled out major damage after touring the affected areas.
“Fortunately, people have heeded the call we made and we have no major damage,” the state president told the media after inspecting the area.
While the Government of Sinaloa sheltered more than 400 inhabitants preventively in shelters in the municipality of Escuinapa, in Nayarit shelters were prepared for 700 people.
More than 50,000 users in both states, the most affected by the phenomenon, were left without electricity, according to the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE).
Nayarit maintained the suspension of classes this Tuesday, although in the states of Jalisco and Sinaloa they resumed.
Geraldine Ponce, mayor of Tepic, capital of Nayarit, assured that the municipality is “out of danger,” while the governor of Sinaloa indicated that they will remain vigilant due to the flooding of rivers and streams.
“We need to take care because the water went up, and after a while it can come to us through the rivers, through the streams, so we have to take care of people because it can flood,” he said.
Orlene made landfall on Monday as a category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 140 kilometers per hour and gusts of 165 kilometers per hour, according to the National Metereological Service (SMN).
Due to its remnants, “very strong punctual rains” are still expected in regions in states such as Jalisco, Nayarit and Sinaloa, according to the National Civil Protection Coordination (CNPC).
After the passage of Orlene, the SMN issued a warning for the formation of Storm Paine in the Pacific of Mexico, 645 kilometers southwest of Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, but stated that it will not have effects on Mexican territory.
So far, in the 2022 season in Mexico, cyclones Agatha, Blas, Celia, Bonnie, Darby, Estelle, Frank, Georgette, Howard, Ivette, Javier, Kay, Lester, Madeline, Newton and Orlene have formed in the Pacific Ocean.
Agatha, Kay and Orlene reached a category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
Last May, the Mexican authorities predicted the formation of up to 40 named cyclones by 2022, which they described as an “active season”, and predicted that of the total number of tropical cyclones generated, at least 5 would impact the country.
