Mexico 1959 Hurricane

      In 1959 October 23 a record breaking hurricane broke out on the west coast of Mexico. On the 23rd it started out at a category 1 the 25th it intensified to a category 4 and by the 29 the hurricane was the deadliest east pacific hurricane of a category 5. The wind speed (260 km but revisions provide evidence of the winds being higher) and landfall still hold the highest record. The hurricane also broke records on the impact and meteorological statistics. The areas most affected was Colima, Jalisco and much of western Mexico. The 1959 hurricane killed 1000 people directly with a total of 1800 lives. So many people were unprepared because they had such little warning that the hurricane was called a "sneak hurricane". It sank 3 merchant ships and two vessels. One ship 21 out of 38 hands went down and on another all hands were down. A total of 150 boats sank. one quarter of homes in Cihuatlan and Jalisco were destroyed. In Colima all coconut plantations were blown down and left thousands out of work, there the economy was already bad but after the hurricane people believed that it would take years to repair. There was a large mud slide that was 3 metres deep and killed 800 people. the mud revealed venomous scorpions and snakes that killed tens of people. Survivors were vaccinated for typhoid and tetanus and a part of Manzanillo was placed under quarantine. Air rescue operations took place but with the roads broken and covered in thick mud not much help was available. the cost of such a disaster was around 280 million. Water was undrinkable due to pollution of debris and dead bodies. Out of the five category 5 hurricanes that hit Mexico this was the only one to be on the Pacific coast.