Residents and tourists prepared for the arrival of Category 4 on a scale of 5 Hurricane Hilary in Cabo San Lucas, a coastal city on Mexico’s Pacific coast, on Friday.
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With gusts of up to 215 km/h, Hilary heads for the Baja California peninsula in northwestern Mexico.
According to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC), this hurricane, which will be accompanied by heavy rains, is expected to cause flooding in this part of Mexico, as well as in southern California (USA).
At 00:00 GMT on Saturday, Hilary was 300 miles south of Cabo San Lucas, a popular destination for foreign tourists, mostly Americans.
The shops were protected with sandbags and the furniture was protected.
“We’re taking everything back, the furniture, the kitchen […]we have already had experience [similaires]. We know what can happen to us. You have to prepare with groceries, canned goods and candles,” Marlén Hernández, 30, a restaurant worker, told AFP on Friday.
“Since we came here to relax, we’re not too worried. We’ll try to leave a little earlier [la ville voisine de] La Paz, take to the streets” before the hurricane hits the coast, said Alfredo Iñiez, 30, who was traveling with his partner.
AFP
Hilary is moving northwest and the center of the storm is expected to approach the west coast of Baja California over the weekend before reaching Southern California overnight Sunday into Monday, the NHC said.
It’s the first hurricane of the season to make landfall on the Pacific side.
“It should start to weaken on Saturday, but Hilary will still be a hurricane as it approaches the west coast of the Baja California Peninsula from Saturday night into Sunday.” […]’ according to the same source.
“This hurricane will be a tropical storm Sunday afternoon before reaching Southern California.”
AFP
The Mexican weather service predicts heavy rain with showers for a dozen states. Due to the risk of landslides and flooding of water bodies, extreme caution is required.
Tropical cyclones hit Mexico every year, usually between May and November, along its Pacific and Atlantic coasts.