Hurricane John punished Mexican ports and beaches with huge sea surges, heavy rains and strong winds on Thursday (August 31) morning as the powerful storm swirled in the Pacific Ocean off the coast. The dangerous Category 3 hurricane could dump up to 10 inches (0.2 metre) of rain, causing landslides or flooding and had maximum sustained winds approaching 125 mph (205 kph) that could produce isolated storm surges along the Mexican coast of up to 18 feet (6 metres), uproot trees and rip roofs off buildings. The Mexican government said its hurricane warning extended from the southern steel-making port of Lazaro Cardenas up the Pacific coast to the tip of the Baja California peninsula, popular with tourists and yachtsmen. But Wednesday (August 30) the storm was just far enough out in the ocean to spare the port of Manzanillo its full fury. The centre of Hurricane John swirled northwestward off the mainland about 150 miles (240 km) northwest of Manzanillo. At 2 a.m. local on...