La Paz Mexico Travels: Hurricane Norbert to hit Baja California, flooding expected

Martes, Setyembre 15, 2015

Hurricane Norbert to hit Baja California, flooding expected

SHOTLIST
++NIGHT SHOTS++
1. Mid of car driving through heavy rain
2. Wide of boats at the docks
3. Rain falling on the road
++DAY SHOTS++
4. Various of homes sodden by rain
5. Wide of homes, doll hanging of a tree blowing in the wind
6. Mother and her two children seeking refuge at a more solid house
7. Close-up of boy’s face
8. Tops of palm trees in the town centre being blown by wind
9. Wide of driving rain and wind blowing trees
10. Close-up of tree tops being blown by wind
11. Families walking into a group shelter, carrying their belongings
12. Mid of family walking past a relief worker inside the shelter
13. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Maria Espinosa, resident of San Carlos:
“We came and we left our homes because the houses were pretty flimsy. The wind is going to blow them away, the water levels are already rising up.”
14. Soldiers helping storm victims inside shelter to obtain bedding and blankets
STORYLINE:
Scores of Mexicans fled flooded homes and took refuge in emergency centres on Saturday as Hurricane Norbert lashed Mexico’s southern Baja California peninsula with torrential rains and powerful winds.
Norbert, a Category 2 storm with winds of up to 105 miles per hour (165 kilometres per hour), hit land near Puerto Charley on the southwest coast of Baja California, the US National Hurricane Centre said.
It was expected to sweep across a sparsely populated stretch of the peninsula, and then make landfall again on Saturday night in the northwest of Mexico’s mainland.
Forecasters from the Hurricane Centre could not confirm whether it would reach hurricane force by then.
In the town of Puerto San Carlos, winds bent palm trees and some streets were in knee-deep water.
State and local officials plan to activate an emergency operations centre on Monday in Presidio, where a levee is struggling to hold back the swollen Rio Grande.
San Carlos resident Maria Espinosa said people left their homes because of worries their houses were going to be blown away.
Flooding in Acapulco forced officials to cancel classes at schools.
A hurricane warning has been issued for the west coast of Baja California from Puerto San Andresito to Agua Blanca.
The government also issued hurricane warnings along the coast of the border state of Sonora and on the east coast of the Baja peninsula from near La Paz north to Loreto.
As of 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT), the hurricane’s centre was located about 45 miles (70 kilometres) south of Cabo San Lazaro, Mexico, and was moving north-northeast at 15 mph (24 kph).
Mudslides and fallen trees blocked roads, and 150 homes were under 13 feet (4 meters) of water in El Paraiso, a small town north of Acapulco.
Civil Protection officials in Guerrero state urged about 10-thousand people living along river banks or other dangerous areas to evacuate.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Odile hugged the southwest coast of Mexico.
Odile was located about 60 miles (100 kilometres) southwest of Zihuatenejo, a resort town north of Acapulco and was moving northwest at about 13 mph (20 kph).
Odile could become a hurricane, and a small deviation from its path could bring the storm inland, the hurricane centre said.
A hurricane watch was in effect from Manzanillo to Zihuatanejo, a resort town north of Acapulco.
A tropical storm warning was in effect from Tecpan de Galeana to Manzanillo, as Odile moved parallel to the Pacific coast with winds of about 65 mph (100 kph).