CNN: Tropical Storm Olaf hits land
Bjorn Viaene
Tropical Storm Olaf came ashore Tuesday just south of Puerto Vallarta and
skirted north along the coast, pummeling the popular resort and lashing the
coast with rain.
The storm regained some of its former punch before hitting land. Early
Monday, it was still packing winds of 50 mph (80 kpm) but was expected to
weaken as it moved up the coast at 6 mph (9 kpm).
Forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami warned of strong
rain, winds and waves in the storm's path.
In Puerto Vallarta, tourists hunkered down in hotels, children stayed home
from school and businesses shut their doors. Workers piled sandbags to
protect beachfront hotels, and authorities prepared emergency shelters for
both residents and tourists as a precaution.
Puerto Vallarta -- known for its white-sand beaches, scenic bay, restaurants
and shopping among tourists from the United States, Canada and Europe -- was
heavily damaged a year ago by storm surges from Hurricane Kenna.
"Each hotel is passing on the information to warn tourists ... to take every
precaution," said Ludwig Estrada, regional director of tourism for the state
of Jalisco, where Puerto Vallarta is located.
With high season for tourists still a month away, the city's hotels were not
even half full, officials said.
"I see some people who are not very worried and others who are taking
precautions," said Jacqueline Robinson, a tourist from California.
Authorities began evacuating 600 residents of communities at higher
elevations of the city, worried that heavy rains could send the Elpitillal
and Ameca rivers over their banks there. Officials also evacuated 60
patients from a public hospital as a precaution.
A third weather system, Tropical Storm Larry, which hit land at the bottom
of the Gulf of Mexico early Sunday and faded to a tropical depression,
triggered flooding in the southern state of Chiapas on Monday.
Cars were swept down city streets in the state capital of Tuxtla Gutierrez
and rescuers evacuated residents by boat from their homes. About 9 inches
(23 centimeters) of rain fell on the city during 24 hours, state authorities
reported.
The intense rains caused the Rio Sabinal River and several smaller rivers to
overflow, flooding various communities outside the state capital.
Tropical Storm Nora, meanwhile, was downgraded to a depression as it headed
east toward the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, a region that
is still recovering from two hurricanes that hit in recent weeks.
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Viaene Björn
http://users.telenet.be/weathersite
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