Mexico: Hurricane Jova dropped one notch to a Category 2

Hurricane Jova, approaching Tuesday on the Pacific coast of Mexico, was lowered to category two on the Saffir-Simpson scale, which has five, said the Meteorological Service of Mexico.

It should make landfall with winds of 185 km / h near the town of Barra de Navidad, south of Puerto Vallarta.

At 18 pm GMT, the hurricane was located 175 km southwest of Manzanillo, in Colima, with "sustained winds of 160 km / h and gusts of 195 km / h", and that 280 km south of Cabo Corrientes, in the state of Jalisco, weather officials said.

Jova maintain a slow to 7 km / h towards the west coast of Mexico, it could reach early Wednesday morning at the limits of Colima and Jalisco with "very strong and intense rainfall," according to the center of the hurricane United States, based in Miami.

Jova is expected to dump up to 30 inches of rain, increasing the risk of flash floods and mudslides in mountainous terrain. The alert is in force in three states in the Mexican Pacific coast, or Michoacan, Guerrero and Nayarit.

Tuesday morning, residents were on alert and the authorities closed the port of Manzanillo, the largest commercial port on the Pacific coast of Mexico.

About 70 emergency shelters were opened in Barra de Navidad and the states of Jalisco, Colima and Nayarit. At least 500 families have been evacuated along the coast on Monday