Olaf was demoted to a tropical storm on Friday as he travels along the Baja California peninsula, causing heavy rainfall and a storm surge in Mexico, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).
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According to the latest NHC report, at 11 a.m., the center of Olaf was 100 kilometers from La Paz, recording sustained winds of 110 km / h and moving at 17 km / h.
Olaf made landfall Thursday night in the tourist town of Los Cabos (northwest) as a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale (out of 5).
At sunrise, it weakened to Category 1 before becoming a tropical storm in the morning.
“The center of Olaf will move along the southwest coast of Baja California, then turn west away from the land in the evening,” according to the NHC forecast.
According to Mexico’s National Water Commission (Conagua), the center of Olaf returned to the Pacific at around 09:00 GMT and continues to run along the coast, affecting the northwest of the country.
The phenomenon is triggering heavy rainfall in the coastal states of Baja California Sur, Sinaloa and Nayarit, which “could cause landslides, rising rivers and streams, as well as overflows and flooding in the region. low-lying areas, ”warns a statement from Conagua.
So far, authorities in Baja California have not reported any injuries, but two ports and the terminals in Los Cabos and La Paz, the state capital, remain closed, and public and private activities have been closed. suspended in these municipalities.
A public hospital in Los Cabos, one of Mexico’s most visited tourist destinations, has been evacuated due to the risk of flooding, state civil protection said.
In recent weeks, Mexico has been hit by meteorological phenomena that have caused heavy rains over much of its territory.
Heavy rains flooded a hospital in Tula, central Hidalgo state on Tuesday, killing 14 Covid patients who were left without mechanical ventilation.
On Thursday afternoon, authorities in Baja California Sur set up shelters for 6,000 people.
Due to its geographic location, Mexico is sensitive to the impact of hurricanes.
In late August, Hurricane Nora made landfall in the Mexican state of Jalisco, in the Pacific, resulting in the death of a Spanish miner and the disappearance of a woman.
Also in August, Category 3 Hurricane Grace made landfall in Veracruz, eastern Mexico, killing at least 11 people in that state and central Puebla state.
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