Mexico tourists flee hurricane

2009-09-02 08:12

Puerto San Carlos - Hurricane Jimena sent tourists fleeing on Tuesday from Mexico's Baja California, but many villagers ignored appeals to evacuate and hunkered down to tough it out.

Jimena weakened to a Category Three hurricane as it spiraled in from the Pacific, packing winds near 185km/h, with higher gusts, scaring off tourists from Los Cabos and other resorts dotting the peninsula's southern tip.

"This phenomenon is unprecedented. In the history of the peninsula, we have not had a storm of the force of Jimena," Jose Gajon, director of the Baja California Sur civil protection service, said in a local radio interview.

"It has been raining since yesterday, many places are totally inundated and cut off and that's even before the storm has really made its presence felt."

The US National Hurricane Centre said the hurricane would gradually weaken before making landfall, and further lessen afterwards.

As last-minute thrill-seekers dipped into the massive surf of Palmilla Beach, officials struggled to convince local inhabitants of the poor, largely arid and mountainous spit of land that they must seek emergency shelter.

"Unfortunately we have families who are refusing to leave their homes, so if it becomes necessary, they will be evacuated by force for their own good," warned Francisco Cota, civil defence chief in Los Cabos.

Tourists flee in droves

The authorities said they had succeeded in evacuating some 15 000 families judged to be living in high-risk zones - prone to flooding or near the coast - but thousands more remained.

Across the region, tourists fled in droves and the local hotel association estimated that some 7 000 would have left or been evacuated by the time the storm arrived.

The federal government declared an emergency in the municipalities of Los Cabos, La Paz and Comondu - where Puerto San Carlos is located - that was extended in the evening to five districts in Baja California Sur state in order to provide "immediate assistance" to those affected by the hurricane.

The emergency declaration, requested by the state government, will provide federal resources "to meet food, shelter and health needs of the affected population," the Interior Ministry said.

As the first major gusts hit, residents of Los Cabos frantically boarded up their homes and stocked up on last-minute provisions before rushing home to ride out the storm.
"I just came out to buy water, and I had to come all the way to the supermarket because the local shops were closed," said Laura Perez. "I heard the hurricane is almost here, right? As soon as I get my water, I'm going home."

In nearby Puerto San Carlos, a fishing village of 4 000 people further north and directly on Jimena's path, work continued as normal at a local sardine plant.
"We are still not prepared. They just told us today to start bringing people to shelters," one labourer told AFP.

Rain, strong winds

In the exclusive resort town of Los Cabos, which is mostly frequented by American tourists, luxury hotels had sluggish activity, while beaches, ports and the airport were closed to the public there and throughout the state.

At least 2 000 foreign tourists left Los Cabos on Monday and Tuesday.

The US State Department issued a travel alert urging caution for people traveling to areas lying in the storm's path.

Rains and strong winds buffeted southern areas of Baja California around Los Cabos on Tuesday but the storm was not expected to make landfall until Wednesday evening at the earliest.

"If it was to follow this track it would hit land at sometime Wednesday evening or early Thursday morning," a spokesperson for the Miami-based National Hurricane Centre said. "This is certainly not the strongest hurricane there has been in this part of the world," he added, noting that Hurricane Linda in 1997, the strongest Pacific hurricane in history, was far more vigorous than Jimena.

- AFP