02-11-2015 15:00

Despite the idyllic scenery, there’s a hurricane on the way, and it’s expected to be the strongest hurricane recorded in the western hemisphere.

“Potentially catastrophic”, is how Hurricane Patricia is being described. The storm became a hurricane overnight, and had maximum sustained winds of about 150 miles per hour (241 kilometres per hour). Mexico’s national water commission reported it has strengthened to a Category 5 storm.

Patricia was last located about 225 miles (362 kilometres) south of the port of Manzanillo, where a hurricane warning has been issued. A Miami-based hurricane centre said the storm could gain more strength before making landfall this evening.

Mexican officials and the United States government are urging people to stay away from beaches, rough seas and to take shelter. Mexican emergency services have begun to prepare shelters and warned people in the states of Colima, Jalisco and Michoacan to get ready for torrential rainfalls.

Difficult words: idyllic (peaceful), sustained (existing for a long time), issue (to set; to tell to many people), gain (to get), urge (to suggest something strongly), rough (not calm), torrential (very heavy).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com