The hurricane came ashore near Punta Maldonado with maximum sustained winds of about 120 miles per hour, or 190 kilometres per hour. The area lies along the coast near the border of Guerrero and Oaxaca, with Acapulco and Puerto Escondido among the population and tourism centres facing potential effects.
Shortly before landfall, the US National Hurricane Center warned that life-threatening storm surge and flash flooding were already affecting the coastline near Oaxaca. John was forecast to bring prolonged heavy rain as it moved inland and weakened, with the possibility that slow movement could keep intense rainfall over vulnerable coastal terrain.
Forecasts called for 15 to 30 centimetres of rain across coastal Chiapas through Thursday, with isolated higher amounts. Along the Oaxaca coast and into southeastern Guerrero, expected totals ranged from 25 to 50 centimetres, again with the possibility of more in isolated locations. Such rainfall raised the prospect of destructive flooding and landslides as well as damage from wind.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador urged residents to seek higher ground and prioritise their safety. Federal civil-protection coordinator Laura Velázquez called on people in coastal communities to leave exposed homes and use shelters. The governments of Guerrero and Oaxaca suspended classes in several coastal areas.
Oaxaca’s state government said it had evacuated 3,000 people, opened 80 shelters and deployed 1,000 military and state personnel. Businesses closed along the principal beaches of Puerto Escondido, fishermen pulled boats from the water, and residents confronted a rapidly changing forecast that left little time to obtain supplies. Roads had already been weakened by rainfall before John arrived.
The storm’s sudden strengthening revived memories of Hurricane Otis, which rapidly intensified before devastating Acapulco in October 2023. Otis destroyed infrastructure, cut electricity and left residents with very little warning about its final strength. That recent disaster shaped both public anxiety and official promises to improve preparedness, including plans discussed by President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum for a stronger hurricane alert system.
Scientists and forecasters have been examining why rapid intensification is appearing more often in modern records. An AccuWeather meteorologist cited unusually warm ocean water as fuel for stronger hurricanes, while cautioning that John’s effects could persist for weeks or months. For communities in its path, however, the immediate priorities were shelter, flood avoidance and maintaining access as the storm crossed the region. Officials’ quickly changing guidance reflected how sharply the threat escalated between the initial tropical-storm forecast and major-hurricane landfall.
