In just a few hours on Tuesday, Otis grew in strength from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane.
“There will likely be catastrophic damage when the eye of the hurricane makes landfall,” writes the hurricane center NHC.
Otis is expected to continue to be categorized as a fifth when it moves in, but according to the forecast will then rapidly decrease in strength.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has urged people via social media to go to evacuation centers and stay away from rivers and other bodies of water.