Latter-day Saints in Mexico Uninjured by Hurricane Willa
Contributed By Jason Swensen, Church News associate editor
This GOES East satellite image provided by NOAA shows Hurricane Willa in the eastern Pacific, on a path toward Mexico’s Pacific coast on Monday, October 22, 2018.
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The 2018 hurricane season has exacted a heavy price on legions of Latter-day Saints—severely damaging hundreds of member homes and several meetinghouses in the southeastern United States.
Now, finally, some good news.
Despite making landfall on Mexico’s central Pacific coast as a category 3 storm, Hurricane Willa did not significantly affect members or Church properties. No members or missionaries were injured. Meanwhile, damage to member homes was limited to leaks and minor flooding.
“One chapel was flooded and was quickly taken care of,” reported Church spokesman Daniel Woodruff.
The hurricane made landfall on October 23 with 120 mph winds toppling homes, ripping off roofs, and knocking out power to more than 100,000 homes in the Mexican state of Sinaloa.
Emergency workers and federal troops initially struggled to reach beach towns left incommunicado even as the storm continued to force evacuations due to fear of flooding.
Thousands of Mexican soldiers and sailors were being dispatched to affected communities to offer help.
