A hurricane struck Mexico’s southern Pacific coast with life-threatening flood potential after increasing in strength in a matter of hours.

Its rapid intensification caught authorities off guard as they scrambled to update their guidance to residents and keep pace with the stronger storm, bringing fierce winds and heavy rainfall.

It made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane.

It came ashore near the town of Punta Maldonado late on Monday night with maximum sustained winds of 120mph (190kph). It weakened back to tropical storm status early on Tuesday with maximum sustained wind speeds of 70mph (110kph) and was expected to weaken rapidly.

By early on Tuesday, John had already weakened to a Category 2 hurricane with 100mph (160kph) maximum sustained winds, according to the US National Hurricane Centre. It was expected to batter tourist hubs Acapulco and Puerto Escondido before weakening.

It had maximum sustained winds of 120 miles per hour at landfall.

John was expected to generate possibly catastrophic flash flooding and life-threatening mudslides, according to the hurricane centre.

Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took to social media platform X, formerly Twitter, to tell his nation to prioritise their lives.

“Seek higher ground, protect yourselves and do not forget that life is the most important thing; material things can be replaced. We are here,” he wrote.

The governments of Guerrero and Oaxaca states said classes would be suspended on Tuesday in a number of coastal zones.

Oaxaca’s governor said the state government evacuated 3,000 people and set up 80 shelters. It also said it sent out 1,000 military and state personnel to address the emergency.