Bonnie Becomes Major Hurricane Off Mexico’s Pacific Coast

Bonnie strengthened into a major hurricane Tuesday, the first of the season in the eastern Pacific. Bonnie continued to move roughly parallel to Mexico’s Pacific coast after crossing over Central America from the Caribbean and dropping heavy rain, contributing to at least two deaths.

Forecasters said they expected the hurricane, now a Category 3 storm, to pose no threat to land as it headed generally westward farther into the Pacific.

Bonnie had maximum sustained winds of 115 mph (185 kph) Tuesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. It was centered 250 miles (400 kilometers) southwest of the Mexican resort town of Zihuatanejo and moving west at 14 mph (22 kph).

The storm caused heavy flooding while crossing sodden Nicaragua over the weekend after making landfall as a tropical storm on the country’s Caribbean coast late Friday.

Two people were killed in separate events related to flooding, Nicaragua’s army said in a statement. It said 40-year-old Alberto Flores Landero died trying to cross the swollen Mati river in Siuna in Nicaragua’s northeast and Juan Carlos Alemán, 38, died trying to help passengers from a bus that fell into the Ali Bethel river in the same area.

The Family Ministry said it had distributed mattresses to families displaced by flooding in Rama, west of Bluefields. Images from the area showed water up to rooflines and people navigating streets in boats.