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Residents of a stretch of Mexico’s Pacific Coast dotted with resorts and fishing villages boarded up homes and bought supplies ahead of Friday’s arrival of Hurricane Patricia, a monster Category 5 storm that forecasters say is the strongest ever recorded in the Western hemisphere.

With maximum sustained winds near 200 mph (325 kph), Patricia is the strongest storm ever recorded in the eastern Pacific or in the Atlantic, said Dave Roberts, a hurricane specialist at the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

Patricia’s power was comparable to that of Typhoon Haiyan, which left more than 7,300 dead or missing in the Philippines two years ago, according to the U.N.’s World Meteorological Organization.

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<span class='image-component__caption' itemprop="caption">A worker carries a table at a seaside restaurant preparing for the arrival of hurricane Patricia in the Pacific resort city of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2015. Hurricane Patricia grew into a monster, Category 5 storm and bore down on Mexico’s central Pacific Coast, on or near Puerto Vallarta, on Thursday night for what forecasters said could be a devastating blow, as officials declared a state of emergency and handed out sandbags in preparation for flooding. (AP Photo/Cesar Rodriguez)</span>

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A worker carries a table at a seaside restaurant preparing for the arrival of hurricane Patricia in the Pacific resort city of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2015. Hurricane Patricia grew into a monster, Category 5 storm and bore down on Mexico’s central Pacific Coast, on or near Puerto Vallarta, on Thursday night for what forecasters said could be a devastating blow, as officials declared a state of emergency and handed out sandbags in preparation for flooding. (AP Photo/Cesar Rodriguez)

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hurricane-patricia-mexico_56295a90e4b0443bb563673d?utm_hp_ref=tw

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