By IANS
Mexico City : The leading edge of Hurricane Henriette struck the state of Sonora on its passage over northwestern Mexico after having forced some 13,000 people from their homes during its earlier swipe at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, authorities said.
Mexican officials said Wednesday they have no reports of deaths or injuries connected to the storm.
In its latest advisory, the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said that Henriette’s centre was located about 115 km south of the coastal town of Guaymas and moving to the north at around 19 kph, reported Spanish news agency EFE.
The Category 1 storm has maximum sustained winds of 120 kph and is expected to weaken once it moves fully over land later Wednesday, the NHC said.
The spokesman for the Baja California municipality of Los Cabos, Jorge Castañeda, said that the number of families who had to leave their homes in that jurisdiction was about 2,500, meaning – according to his calculations – that some 10,000 people have lost their homes.
He also reported that the national government is going to send a Hercules cargo plane with supplies for those affected by the storm.
“We have already detected damage to infrastructure, municipal highways and in the drinking water and drainage systems,” he said.
Castañeda said that Los Cabos, which includes the two popular resort towns of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo, is not completely isolated by land.
But authorities have recommended moving with caution through the area because some roads have been cut and the threat of landslides is present because of the water-saturated ground.
The Los Cabos airport opened Wednesday and some flights have already departed and arrived.
With regard to the hotel industry, the main source of income for the area, he said: “It had no damage … (and) is maintaining an occupation rate of 65 percent,” with the majority of the tourists on hand being from the US and Canada.
“Los Cabos is on its feet, with 15,000 tourists. Nobody left,” Castañeda said.
The government-owned CFE electric utility reported that it had re-established service to 50 percent of its customers in Los Cabos.
The assistant director of the Sonora state Civil Protection service, Carlos Arias, said that 150 shelters had been set up all over the state with the capacity to house a total of 15,000 people, and maritime and air navigation had been suspended for the region, as well as classes at many schools.
Mexico continues to closely monitor the evolution of Hurricane Felix in Central America. The former Category 5 storm has now declined in strength to a tropical depression, but it could still dump heavy rains in the southeastern state of Chiapas.