Hurricane Patricia -- the strongest hurricane ever recorded -- made landfall on Mexico's Pacific coast Friday evening, its 165 mph winds barreling into southwestern Mexico near Cuixmala, officials said.
Less than an hour after its arrival, Patricia churned inland over southwestern Mexico with maximum sustained wind speeds of 160 mph and was still "extremely dangerous," according to the American weather service.
"A lot of these homes, especially in the rural areas, are made of flimsy materials, and with the wind being so strong and then there being so much rain, the potential for landslides. Many of these families will probably be losing everything."
Mexico's National Commission for Water, CONAGUA, said the eye of Patricia has a diameter of 10 kilometers, or 6.21 miles.
The closest contender to its size, at this point, might be Hurricane Camille, which battered the U.S. Gulf Coast in 1969. Patricia looks to be more powerful than that storm, as well as stronger than Hurricane Andrew in 1992, Katrina in 2005 and many others.
Rainfall of 8 to 12 inches -- and possibly 20 inches in some spots -- "could produce life-threatening flash floods and mudslides," according to the U.S. weather agency.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/23/americas/hurricane-patricia/
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