La Paz Mexico Travels: Hurricane Paul strengthens, threatens southern Baja California

Huwebes, Setyembre 17, 2015

Hurricane Paul strengthens, threatens southern Baja California

SHOTLIST
1. Wide pan of harbour
2. Wide of boats in harbour
3. Medium of boats
4. People walking along waterfront lined with shops and bars
5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Mary Lough Everly, tourist:
“Yes, I did watch the news this morning (Monday) and I heard that it was a category 2 storm, almost a category 3, and that it may be coming this way tomorrow (Tuesday).”
6. Wide of Boat club
7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Mary Lough Everly, tourist:
“I am a little worried but my plane does not go out until Saturday, so I am hoping it takes a different course and goes a different direction.”
8. Various of people walking along
9. Wide of liner in sea
10. Wide of harbour
STORYLINE:
Emergency workers were on standby to evacuate thousands of this town’s residents as Hurricane Paul swirled toward the tip of the Baja California peninsula, the third hurricane this season to threaten the resort region popular with Hollywood’s elite.
Francisco Cota, civil defence director for Los Cabos, said 2,000 to 3,000 families could be evacuated from flood-risk areas to 49 temporary shelters, mostly schools.
Forecasters predicted it could brush past Baja California late Tuesday and plow into Mexico’s Pacific coast near the resort of Mazatlan by Wednesday.
“I am a little worried but my plane does not go out until Saturday, so I am hoping it takes a different course and goes a different direction,” Mary Lough Everly, a tourist, said on Monday in Los Cabos.
Paul had maximum sustained winds of 85 miles per hour (135 kilometres per hour) and was moving north at about seven miles per hour (12 kilometres per hour) late Monday, the U.S. National Hurricane Centre in Miami, Florida said.
Earlier Monday, it had maximum winds of 110 miles per hour (175 kilometres per hour) but weakened slightly in the afternoon, downgrading to a Category 1 storm, the Centre said.
A hurricane watch was issued for the southern tip of Baja California, which has been battered by two other hurricanes this season.
Mexico was struck by two Pacific hurricanes last month. Hurricane John battered Baja California, killing five people and destroying 160 homes, while
Hurricane Lane hit the resort town of Mazatlan, causing relatively minor damage.