Mexico's Baja California braces for arrival of Hurricane Jimena
MEXICO. September 1. KAZINFORM Hurricane Jimena, which formed in the Pacific last week, is expected to make landfall on Mexico's Baja California peninsula overnight on Tuesday, the country's National Weather Service reported, Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.
The storm is on the threshold of the highest Category 5 rating, with sustained winds of about 155 mph (250 kph), and is expected to cause severe damage to the resort-studded Baja coast. The U.S. National Hurricane Center expects Jimena "to remain a major hurricane until after landfall."
Jimena is currently raging some 185 miles (300 kilometers) south of Cabo San Lucas, a major resort at the southern tip of the peninsula.
Local authorities have issued a Hurricane Warning for the southern half of Baja California Sur state. The Associated Press reported that emergency officials were urging some 10,000 people to leave coastal shanty towns, although many of were refusing to head to shelters, fearing that they could lose their property, Kazinform cites RIA Novosti. See www.en.rian.ru for full version.