CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico: Hurricane Odile whipped through the popular beach resorts of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula yesterday, uprooting trees, downing power lines and forcing thousands of tourists to take cover in emergency shelters.
Winds of up to 160 km/h buffeted shelters as one of the worst storms on record hit the luxury retreats of Los Cabos, battering Mexico’s northwest coast with heavy rains that left plush hotels badly waterlogged.
Odile has weakened from a category four to category two hurricane since Sunday, but the National Hurricane Center said it would likely cause life-threatening flooding and mudslides on Mexico’s northwestern coast during the next day or two.
“The whole place is devastated, San José del Cabo, windows are trashed, trees and electricity poles are down,” said Mauricio Balderrama, manager of the Cabo Surf Hotel and Spa. All of the hotel’s guests were fine, he added.
The weather service said Odile was expected to slow as it pushed northwest along the desert peninsula. REUTERS
