CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico (AP) – Authorities in the southern portion of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula ordered schools closed and set up emergency shelters as Hurricane Newton gained strength while bearing down on the twin resorts of Los Cabos for a predicted arrival Tuesday morning.
Boat owners pulled fishing craft in from the water and business owners nailed boards and sheets of plywood over windows in Cabo San Lucas, the resort that was hammered by Category 3 Hurricane Odile in 2014. Officials warned that Newton might cause torrential rainfalls.
About 14,000 tourists remained in Los Cabos as of Monday night as airlines cancelled flights out as the storm approached, said Genaro Ruiz, the state tourism secretary. Ruiz said tourists had been advised to remain in their hotels.
“The most important thing is to stay at home,” said Carlos Godinez, a civil defense official for Baja California Sur state. “If there is nothing that requires you to be outside, take shelter with your family.”
Newton’s maximum sustained winds increased to 90 mph (150 kph) by Monday night, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said. The Category 1 storm was centered about 125 miles (200 kilometers) south-southeast of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo and was moving northwest at 16 mph (26 kph) on a forecast path that would bring it near or over the area Tuesday morning.