PUERTO SAN CARLOS, Mexico — Hurricane Polo, a Category 3 storm with sustained winds near 115 mph, bore down on Mexico’s Baja California Sur on Monday as residents of fishing towns and resort hubs braced for life-threatening winds, flash floods and a possible second landfall farther north, authorities and wire reports said.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Polo was expected to move over Baja California Sur later Monday or early Tuesday, with a second landfall possible in northwestern mainland Mexico. Schools were ordered closed, beaches restricted in Cabo San Lucas, and temporary shelters opened; the federal government deployed navy and army units with specialised machinery. In Puerto San Carlos, a fishing port of nearly 6,000 people in the storm’s path, few homes had boarded windows by Sunday evening, AFP reported.
Forecasters warned of 4 to 8 inches of rain in places, destructive storm surge and mudslides in steep terrain, fuelled by unusually warm Pacific waters linked to El Niño. AccuWeather and other private forecasts said Polo could weaken before landfall but still topple trees and power lines across the tourist region around Los Cabos.
Sources: BBC News, AFP via France 24, Reuters
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