Hurricane Paul weakens to tropical storm

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This article was published 25/10/2006 (6894 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SAN JOSE DEL CABO, Mexico (AP) – Hurricane Paul weakened to a tropical storm, easing the threat Wednesday to resort cities and surrounding villages at the tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula.

Paul’s top winds fell to near 72.42 km/h and the storm was expected to weaken further before slipping just south of the twin resorts of San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas, known jointly as Los Cabos.

By early Thursday, Paul was forecast to hit mainland Mexico around the state of Sinaloa, unleashing rain that could cause dangerous flooding, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Paul’s maximum sustained winds had reached 177.02 km/h on Monday, making it a Category 2 hurricane. It was the third hurricane to threaten the Pacific coast’s resort areas this season.

Early Wednesday the storm was 120.7 kilometres west-southwest of Cabo San Lucas and about 394.28 kilometres west-southwest of Mazatlan on the mainland. It was moving northeast about 9 mph.

A tropical storm warning was in effect for the tip of Baja.

A 23-year-old Mexican fisherman died Monday after he slipped off rocks being battered by the rough sea in the coastal community of Todos Santos, north of Los Cabos, said Baja California Sur civil defence director Jose Gajon.

Off the coast of Cabo San Lucas, officials were searching for the body of an American man who was swept away by the waves while he was walking along the beach with his wife and sister.

Gilberto Guzman, manager of the SolMar Hotel, identified the missing tourist as John Skoor, 65, of Moses Lake, Wash.. Guzman said “an enormous wave” swept Skoor and his sister out to sea late Monday. Hotel staff were able to save the sister.

Known for their rugged beauty, San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas are popular with sports fishermen and celebrities and famous for world-class golf courses and pristine beaches flanked by cactus-dotted deserts.

Streets were already flooded with ankle-deep water in Cabo San Lucas, where authorities closed schools and opened eight shelters Tuesday. Later police drove through neighbourhoods, calling on people to take refuge.

City government spokesman Jorge Castaneda said at least 1,000 residents were being evacuated, most from shantytowns in areas at high risk for flooding.

Guadalupe Herrera preferred to stay in her wooden shack. “If we leave our house alone, we will be robbed,” she said.

Tourists were taking the wet weather in stride.

“I’m used to this kind of thing. I spent 20 years in the U.S. Navy so it doesn’t bother me,” said Keith Howard, 55, of British Colombia, who was walking in cloudy San Jose del Cabo. “I don’t plan on going fishing though.”

Dave Snow, 47, and Shauna Grady, 39, of Boulder, Colo., walked the rain-soaked streets of San Jose del Cabo early Tuesday after Paul forced them to postpone their stay in Cabo Pulmo, an exposed stretch of coast to the north that is popular among divers.

“If it had stayed at hurricane level, it would have been scarier,” Snow said. “It seems pretty mellow now.”

In Cabo San Lucas, hotel guests played board games in lobbies or read in their rooms.

“It looks as though the storm is dissipating and we’re not going to get much of anything at all,” said Sandra Scandiber, owner of the small Los Milagros Hotel in Cabo San Lucas. “I don’t think today is going to be a beach day, but tomorrow just may be.”

Mexico’s Pacific coast was struck by two hurricanes last month. Hurricane John battered Baja California, killing five people and destroying 160 homes, while Hurricane Lane hit the resort town of Mazatlan, causing relatively minor damage.

Both Atlantic and Pacific hurricane seasons, which end Nov. 30, have been normal this year, Feltgen said, adding that the United States has been fortunate to not be hit by any of the five hurricanes in 2006. The Atlantic had a record season last year with devastating storms, including Hurricane Katrina, which slammed New Orleans and the U.S. Gulf coast.