Hurricane Polo made a second landfall on Mexico's northwestern Pacific coast on Tuesday near the port city of Guaymas, Sonora, hours after battering the Baja California peninsula as a stronger storm. State authorities ordered emergency evacuations as 543 people hunkered down in shelters.
Polo came ashore near Guaymas on the Sea of Cortez as a Category 1 hurricane. The US National Hurricane Center reported maximum sustained winds of around 75 mph (120 km/h) when the storm was inland at 10 a.m. (1600 GMT), and said rapid weakening was expected as the center moved farther inland.
State authorities ordered evacuations in southern Sonora municipalities including Guaymas, Empalme, Benito Juarez and Vicam. Officials said 543 people sheltered as the storm rolled in.
Earlier, Polo had battered the Baja California peninsula as a more powerful Category 2 storm, turning streets into rivers and snapping trees. However, Baja California Sur Governor Victor Manuel Castro said no lives were lost. Nearly 700 people who sought refuge in emergency shelters in Baja California Sur were returning to their homes during the day, the head of Mexico's civil protection agency, Laura Velazquez, said at a press conference. Mexico's Secretariat of the Navy said a ship brought 2,000 food baskets, 8,000 liters of drinking water and machinery to the region.
The storm was expected to dump 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) of rain across southern and central Sonora, with isolated maximum totals of 8 inches, while Baja California Sur could face a further 1 to 2 inches — with a risk of life-threatening flooding and mudslides, according to the NHC. Private forecaster AccuWeather warned that Polo's moisture-laden remnants could trigger a deluge across the US Southwest and Plains.
"At my house we tied all down. We prepared very well. We expected it to be stronger, but thank God it wasn't so disastrous," Bertha Lopez, a resident of Loreto in Baja California Sur, told Reuters.
Sources: Devdiscourse (syndicated feed) / NHC / Reuters
Polo came ashore near Guaymas on the Sea of Cortez as a Category 1 hurricane. The US National Hurricane Center reported maximum sustained winds of around 75 mph (120 km/h) when the storm was inland at 10 a.m. (1600 GMT), and said rapid weakening was expected as the center moved farther inland.
State authorities ordered evacuations in southern Sonora municipalities including Guaymas, Empalme, Benito Juarez and Vicam. Officials said 543 people sheltered as the storm rolled in.
Earlier, Polo had battered the Baja California peninsula as a more powerful Category 2 storm, turning streets into rivers and snapping trees. However, Baja California Sur Governor Victor Manuel Castro said no lives were lost. Nearly 700 people who sought refuge in emergency shelters in Baja California Sur were returning to their homes during the day, the head of Mexico's civil protection agency, Laura Velazquez, said at a press conference. Mexico's Secretariat of the Navy said a ship brought 2,000 food baskets, 8,000 liters of drinking water and machinery to the region.
The storm was expected to dump 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) of rain across southern and central Sonora, with isolated maximum totals of 8 inches, while Baja California Sur could face a further 1 to 2 inches — with a risk of life-threatening flooding and mudslides, according to the NHC. Private forecaster AccuWeather warned that Polo's moisture-laden remnants could trigger a deluge across the US Southwest and Plains.
"At my house we tied all down. We prepared very well. We expected it to be stronger, but thank God it wasn't so disastrous," Bertha Lopez, a resident of Loreto in Baja California Sur, told Reuters.
Sources: Devdiscourse (syndicated feed) / NHC / Reuters
