Mexico's main Pacific ports reopen after avoiding ire of Hurricane Patricia

Flooding and debris in the aftermath of Hurricane Patricia is seen in Playa Paraiso, near Manzanillo, Saturday.

However, the storm ranged inland quickly and met stiff resistance in the form of Mexico's mountains.

Brian Shelley, a tourist from Chicago, rode out the storm eating burgers with other guests at a boutique hotel on a hill in Puerto Vallarta.

"We were sobbing, I thought everything was going to collapse around us", said Jose Angel Perez, 58, who sells coconuts in the municipality of Casimiro Castillo in Jalisco state, which lay in the storm's path. Whipping winds blew part of his roof away. Furthermore, Patricia's storm surge was limited because of its small size, the short amount of time it spent as an intense hurricane prior to landfall, and unfavorable coastal bathymetry.

Rain continued to be a major concern in the Mexican mountains and for Texas, where eight to 12 inches were predicted and a few spots could receive as much as 20 inches, according to meteorologists.

Civil protection officials warned that past hurricanes have filled the streets of Puerto Vallarta with water, sand and flying projectiles, and those remaining were urged to move at least three blocks inland.

Mexican authorities ordered people to evacuate from the states of Colima, Nayarit and Jalisco, emergency warnings that proved successful as the Mexican government reported that no lives were lost, though there was significant flooding and many cancelled flights.

"Patricia's Category 5 winds were confined to a relatively narrow swath... and this swath missed major cities", explained Weather Underground's Jeff Masters.

By Friday it was the most powerful recorded hurricane to hit the hemisphere, with a central pressure of 880 millibars and maximum sustained winds of 200 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Centre.

"The heaviest damage is after the hurricane passes", he said. This meant Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo were spared the worst.

Many tourists were traveling in the area when Hurricane Patricia hit Friday, and many of them were scrambling for shelter. But there was no word yet on the state of the resort.

Once he was able to reach his sister by phone and confirm her safety, he poked fun at the situation.

Family members anxiously waited outside San Francisco worldwide Airport Saturday night, while friends and family arrived home from areas hit by the strongest hurricane ever recorded into Mexico's Pacific Coast.

Tour operators reported that the danger of Patricia was short-lived and business has rapidly returned to normal. By Saturday morning it had been downgraded to a tropical storm with its maximum winds down to about 50 miles per hour (80 kph), the Miami-based Hurricane Center said.

On Saturday afternoon, Patricia was centered about 95 miles (155 kilometers) northeast of Zacatecas and was moving to the northeast at 24 mph (39 kph).

It could, however, pose a flood threat, the NHC said.

Patricia became a tropical storm in the Pacific on Thursday, and strengthened with stunning speed as it closed in on the Mexican coast.

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.