- Title: STORM-BLANCA/MEXICO-PREPS Preparations underway for Blanca's landfall
- Date: 7th June 2015
- Summary: PROJECTION OF PRESENTATION STORM TRAJECTORY
- Embargoed: 22nd June 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Mexico
- Country: Mexico
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAB6L8Q020JJ5F0TU823NCAXJWU
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Hurricane Blanca weakened slightly to a category 3 storm on Saturday (June 6) as it churned toward Mexico's Baja California peninsula, according to the latest update form the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC).
Blanca, the second hurricane to form off Mexico's Pacific coast this year, is located about 320 miles (510 km) south of the tourist hub of Cabo San Lucas at the tip of the peninsula.
The Los Cabos local government convened a meeting to brief locals on the area's preparedness. Many spent the day Saturday boarding up their properties.
"Knowing where the areas of high risk in our municipality and avoiding having any effects is why we the three orders of government have come together in an organised manner, precisely to do the corresponding work we are all responsible for," said Jose Antonio Agundez, the municipal president of Los Cabos.
Locals are doing what they can to brace themselves for the storm.
"Well, we are preparing ourselves for Hurricane Blanca and taking the necessary measures. And like a good Mexican, we all left it all for the last minute. I have filled up my gas, and I had to come up to do that and have gas to make sure I wasn't without it," Los Cabos resident Guillermo Hernandez told Reuters in an interview.
The hurricane, which was rated a category 4 storm earlier in the day, features maximum sustained winds of 120 miles per hour (195 km/h), and is expected to make landfall early Monday morning near the lightly-populated area of San Carlos, a small fishing village.
Blanca will likely be downgraded further to tropical storm status on Saturday night or Sunday when it reaches the west coast of the southern Baja California peninsula, the NHC said.
A second U.S. Air Force reconnaissance plane was sent Saturday morning to evaluate the storm, which is expected to turn toward the north-northwest later in the day.
Luis Felipe Puente, the national head of emergency services, told reporters that major Pacific coast ports including Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta have already been closed to smaller ships as a precaution.
He added that 18,000 tourists are currently vacationing in and around the Cabo San Lucas resort, nearly three-quarters of whom are foreigners and may require help leaving the area.
The local authorities are for now not ordering an immediate evacuation.
"Right now, (an evacuation) is not being contemplated, taking into account (the storm) is coming in very inconsistently. It could change path, speed, get stronger, weaker, change category, and so we are following it, but that's not being contemplated. The INE (National Electoral Institute) is taking the necessary provisions to ensure there will be shelter and the ballot booths will be protected (for Sunday's midterm elections)," Pettit Jacinto, the director of Los Cabos civil protection said.
Blanca could produce rainfall of between 6 to 10 inches (15-25 cm) over much of Baja California, including the possibility of "life threatening flash floods and mudslides," the NHC added.
Last September, Hurricane Odile battered southern Baja California, wreaking havoc on Cabo San Lucas and stranding thousands of tourists. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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