Hurricane Polo is endangering the Pacific coastline of Mexico with destructive winds, heavy rainfall, and perilous seas, potentially leading to increased flood and severe weather hazards throughout the south-central United States.

Residents along Mexico’s west coast stacked sandbags to fortify beachfront shops and evacuated their homes, while Hawaii’s Big Island and Maui braced for potentially catastrophic flooding, as

Hurricane Polo intensified rapidly in the Pacific off the southwestern Mexican coast, growing into a Category 5 storm before weakening slightly to a Category 4. Here's the latest on its path.

Hurricane Polo has grown into one of the most powerful Pacific cyclones in decades and is expected to skirt Mexico’s southwestern coast as a major hurricane.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Polo has grown into one of the most powerful Pacific cyclones in decades and was expected to skirt Mexico’s southwestern coast as a major hurricane, while another Pacific system, Odalys, strengthened Wednesday from a tropical storm to a hurricane without threatening land.

Hurricane Polo is a Category 5 hurricane and its maximum winds peaked at 180 mph earlier in the week after rapid intensification.

The alert comes as Hurricane Polo, a Category 5 hurricane, continues to strengthen in the Pacific Ocean.