Hurricane Simon was about 315 kilometres from the port of Manzanillo on Friday 9 October with winds of 165 kilometres an hour, the US National Hurricane Center said, and is forecast to strengthen into a category 3 or 4 hurricane just before coming ashore, most likely on the coast of Jalisco state in western Mexico. The National Hurricane Center said the greatest danger is the storm surge, which will be accompanied by large and destructive waves. Mexico's government ordered the Navy, the Army and the National Guard deployed and opened shelters. Civil Protection chief Laura Velazquez named the municipalities at risk, from Puerto Vallarta and Cabo Corrientes in Jalisco to Manzanillo, Armeria and Tecoman in Colima, and asked residents to shelter at home or in temporary shelters during the storm's passage. Simon's outer bands have already brought heavy rain to Acapulco, where Guerrero governor Evelyn Salgado reported flooding in some neighbourhoods but no deaths or missing people. We pray for that stretch of coast before the storm reaches it, for the fishing families and the people in the shelters tonight, and for the marines, soldiers and civil protection teams already on the ground.