Hurricane Patricia is one for the record books. First of all, the storm itself is the largest hurricane ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere dwarfing even Katrina and Sandy. At it's peak, Patricia had sustained winds of over 200 m.p.h. and was packing torrential rains as well.

While Patricia could have been catastrophic, the massive storm managed to avoid major cities and that, in part, is one reason the death toll form this monster wasn't higher. The storm roared ashore as a Category 5, but rapidly began to degrade partly due to the mountainous terrain in the area.

The storm, which intensified very rapidly before it went ashore did cause damage to major tourist areas of Mexico including the popular tourist destinations of Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo, tourists and residents alike sought shelter. It struck land near Cuixmala, a 25,000-acre private estate of beach, jungle and nature reserves.

According to the National Weather Service, Patricia will continue to downgrade rapidly and may even die out all together by this evening.

 

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