Mexico on Saturday issued a tropical storm warning along its coast from Altata to Huatabampito and lifted all warnings for Baja California Sur after rains from Tropical Storm Ileana battered resort-dotted Los Cabos a day earlier.
Ileana was moving northward across the southern Gulf of California at 7 mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. By Saturday evening, the storm was about 20 miles southeast of Los Mochis, Mexico, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, the center said.
Tropical Storm Ileana made landfall off the coast of the Mexican state of Sinaloa, near the coastal city of Topolobampo, and was moving north at 6 mph (9.5 km/h).
A tropical storm warning was in effect for the Sinaloa city of Altata, north to Huatabampito.
“The center of Ileana will move over the northern Sinaloa coast over the next several hours and then move across the Gulf of California on Sunday, roughly parallel to the coast,” the hurricane center said in its latest warning.
Ileana was expected to begin weakening Saturday night and dissipate Monday. It was forecast to bring up to 10 inches of rain to parts of the northwestern Sinaloa coast.
Juan Manuel Arce Ortega, of the Los Cabos Civil Protection, said the municipalities of La Paz and Los Cabos were on alert at the time and urged residents not to cross rivers, streams or low-lying areas as they could be swept away by the water.
Also in Los Cabos, all schools were closed on Friday due to the storm.
Óscar Cruces Rodríguez of Mexico’s Federal Civil Protection said in a statement that residents should not leave their homes until the storm passes and that residents in an area at risk of flooding should seek temporary shelter.
According to Los Cabos Civil Protection, authorities have prepared 20 temporary shelters in San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas.
At the Hacienda Beach Club and Residences in Cabo San Lucas, valet Alan Galvan said it was raining late Thursday night and steady. “The rain isn’t really heavy right now, but the waves are choppy,” he said.
“The guests are very calm and are already downstairs for coffee,” Galvan said. “There are some flights that have been canceled, but at the moment everything is fine.” Galvan said they are waiting for further advice from authorities.
The rain remained consistent in Los Cabos on Friday afternoon, with several roads flooded and some resorts piling sandbags on their borders. Some people were still seen walking around boat docks with umbrellas.
“The priority must be safety, starting with the workers. We must always check our colleagues who live in risk areas,” said Lyzzette Liceaga, a tour operator in Los Cabos.
“We give them the information that the authorities share – firefighters in risk areas – so that they can go to the shelters if necessary,” she added.
Earlier this weekFrancine weakened to a post-tropical cyclone as it moved north across Mississippi, drenching the state and neighboring states in heavy rainfall after it struck the coast of Louisiana Wednesday evening as a dangerous Category 2 hurricane. In August, Tropical Storm Ernesto moved away from Bermuda after making landfall on the island as a Category 1 hurricane.
Hurricane activity tends to peak mid-Septemberaccording to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
