Los Cabos braces for Hurricane Lorena

Hurricane Lorena was upgraded to a Category 1 storm early Friday (Sept. 10th) and is expected to cause damaging winds, flash flooding and life-threatening surf as it bears down on Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, The U.S. National Hurricane Center reports.

READ MORE: Tips for safe travel during hurricane season

The storm is moving toward Cabo San Lucas at a speed of 15 km/h, forecasters report, with maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometres per hour.

School classes in the Los Cabos region were cancelled today as authorities prepare to use schools as shelters, if required, reports say. 

The port of Cabo San Lucas has also been closed as the storm nears.

Another storm spotted

Meanwhile, a second tropical storm, Mario, was spotted about 590 kilometres south of the southern tip of the Baja peninsula late Thursday (Sept. 19). Reports indicate that Mario sustained winds of 100 kilometres, but it isn’t expected to hit land. 

The Los Cabos region is currently in a state of yellow alert (which means severe weather is coming, and that people in the region should expect disruptions to their day-to-day activities).

A total of 177 properties in five municipalities of the state have been turned into shelters as heavy rains loom.

Lorena made landfall earlier as a hurricane in the western Mexican state of Colima, battering trees with wild winds and pounding the region with heavy rain. Many streets were flooded and the power was knocked out in some areas, reports say. 

That incident reportedly weakened Lorena into a tropical storm, but the storm was forecasted to regain strength as it headed toward Los Cabos.

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