Mexican president urges residents to shelter as Hurricane Simon approaches

BREAKING: Mexico's president urges residents to shelter as Category 4 Hurricane Simon churns off Jalisco, with the community of Cabo Corrientes facing risk of a direct hit.

A Category 4 hurricane with 240 kilometre an hour winds is sitting off Mexico's Pacific coast right now.

Hurricane Simon is churning offshore of Jalisco, and President Claudia Sheinbaum is telling people across four states, Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit and Michoacan, to stay sheltered until authorities say the danger has passed. The flooding has already started, and you can see it here, residents paddling a kayak through streets the storm surge has claimed.

Twenty eight municipalities are under the highest cyclone alert. Classes suspended, evacuations under way. In Puerto Vallarta, businesses are boarding windows and stacking sandbags, while Jalisco's governor reports waves reaching eight metres along his coastline. Forecasters say some areas could take as much as 76 centimetres of rain by Monday.

It's still unclear whether Simon makes landfall at all. But the town of Cabo Corrientes, sitting on a cape that juts straight into the Pacific, is facing the risk of a direct hit tonight.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.