Mexico beach towns brace for storms as Polo churns off the coast

Residents of Mexico's Pacific beach towns were preparing for heavy rain and dangerous surf on Wednesday as Hurricane Polo, a powerful Category 4 storm, tracked northwestward just offshore, threatening flooding and mudslides along the country's southwestern coast.



The US National Hurricane Center said Polo is expected to continue moving slowly along the coast between the fishing town Zihuatanejo and port hub Manzanillo, with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph (230 kph) at 3 p.m. local time.



The center of the hurricane was forecast to track along the edge of southwestern Mexico through Thursday morning before gradually turning farther out to sea. Meanwhile, the storm's outer rainbands were already affecting the coast, where tropical storm warnings and watches remained in place.