Hurricane Orlene is rapidly intensifying as a Category 4 storm as it approaches landfall on Mexico’s northwestern Pacific coast next week. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) has issued a warning saying that Orlene will cause “life-threatening flooding.” 

The tropical storm is expected to reach the coast of Mainland Mexico on Monday night at Sinaloa, south of Mazatlán. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said that the hurricane will first hit the Las Islas Marias – an archipelago 60 miles off Mexico.

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The island, which used to be a penal colony but is now being developed by the Mexican government as an ecotourism spot, is already under a hurricane warning. Hurricane conditions are expected in this area from Sunday night with high chances of flash flooding. 

A hurricane warning has also been issued for a portion of west-central mainland Mexico. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that hurricane conditions will prevail starting Monday, after which the wind speeds will fall and it will become a tropical storm. 

Later on Monday, tropical storm conditions are expected to prevail in southwestern Mexico.

The latest updates on the hurricane suggest that it is moving towards the Mexican coast at a sustained speed of 5 mph (7 kph). The wind speed of Orlene is currently at a maximum of 80 mph (130 kph).

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Mexico’s National Water Commission had earlier reported that there could be “mudslides, rising river and stream levels, and flooding in low-lying areas” due to the impact of Orlene.

The center had described Orlene as a “small storm, with hurricane-force winds extending out about 10 miles (20 kilometers) from the center and tropical storm force winds out to 60 miles (95 kilometers),” AP reported.