Hurricane John downgraded after bashing Mexico
Pastor Dale Morgan
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Hurricane John downgraded after bashing Mexico*
By Antonio Alcantar
Reuters
September 3, 2006; 7:08 PM
LA PAZ, Mexico (Reuters) - Hurricane John was downgraded to a tropical
storm on Saturday after blasting the tourist port city of La Paz with
wicked winds and torrential rain that knocked out power and flooded streets.
John flattened trees and electric power poles and sent advertising signs
flying overnight in La Paz, popular with tourists and the capital of
Baja California Sur state.
As the weakening storm crept up Mexico's Baja California peninsula,
rains eased and electricity was restored in much of the city of 200,000
people. But main streets were flooded with ankle-deep water and the La
Paz airport remained closed.
Farther south, the seaside resort of Los Cabos was also flooded and
roads out were impassable as muddy rainwater and debris from surrounding
hills poured down unpaved streets.
"There was a lot of rain. The windows were shaking pretty good," said
Jeff Passama, 27, from San Francisco, who had driven north to La Paz
from Los Cabos to try to escape the storm.
"Now we have to figure out how to get out of here," he said, as many
people abandoned their sport utility vehicles after getting stuck in
slushy sand.
After John felled up to 40 power poles in La Paz, authorities cut off
the electricity supply to prevent downed wires from electrocuting
people, rescue workers said.
"We are happy because we have a clean slate," said state civil
protection chief Jose Gajon. "No one was killed."
NO US THREAT
Before John made landfall on Friday evening as a Category 2 storm, about
4,000 people living in low-lying areas of La Paz were moved to shelters.
By Saturday afternoon, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said John had
weakened to a tropical storm from a Category 1 hurricane. The storm was
still expected to churn up Baja California before heading out into the
Pacific Ocean, posing no threat to the United States.
The peninsula extends about 680 miles south from the U.S. border.
Ester Aman, owner of the Angel Azul Hotel, said she felt the old
building shaking as John lashed La Paz. "It was like a strobe light in
the sky," she said of the lightning.
At Los Cabos, on the peninsula's western tip, thousands of tourists and
locals took shelter. Vacationers sat out Friday on mattresses in
conference rooms of five-star hotels.
"The hardest part was the waiting," said hospital secretary Patty Ruiz
from Los Angeles, who had just gotten engaged to her boyfriend when the
hurricane warning came.
Tourists went back to their hotel rooms on Saturday and were eager to
restart their vacations.
"I want to enjoy Cabos, go clubbing and to the beach," said Lisa Perez,
on a break from her California furniture store.
Local residents were less fortunate, with flooded roads meaning some
faced a third night in shelters.
In the United States, the remnants of Tropical Storm Ernesto left more
than 400,000 homes without power in the mid-Atlantic region on Saturday,
and two people were reported dead in storm-related traffic accidents.
(Reporting by Noel Randewich and Armando Tovar in Los Cabos)