Category 3 Hurricane Polo Threatens Baja California Sur With Severe Flooding and Destructive Winds

Category 3 Hurricane Polo is expected to reach Baja California Sur late Monday or early Tuesday, bringing damaging winds, heavy rain, dangerous storm surge and life-threatening flooding and mudslides. Residents are stocking up, boarding homes and evacuating high-risk areas, and officials have restricted beach access in Cabo San Lucas; rainfall could reach 12 inches in Baja California Sur and 8 inches in parts of Sonora. Hurricane Nolo has moved away from Hawaii, though heavy rain, flooding, high winds and surf remain concerns, especially on the Big Island. Earlier, Hurricane Odalys was weakening over open water as multiple systems were tracked in the eastern and central Pacific. Forecasters and experts say unusually warm waters associated with a strong El Niño are contributing to an active Pacific hurricane season; El Niño can also suppress Atlantic hurricane activity.
In Puerto San Carlos, residents feared waves and high tides could overwhelm earthen flood barriers. Fisherman RocÃo Sánchez said Civil Protection had told people in the high-risk area to evacuate, and some families planned to go to shelters in Ciudad Constitución.
Cabo San Lucas authorities restricted beach access, and some restaurants in the resort town closed as Polo approached.
Although Nolo was not expected to make direct landfall in Hawaii, forecasters warned that parts of the Big Island could receive up to 20 inches of rain, raising the risk of life-threatening flooding and mudslides.
The eastern Pacific had recorded 17 tropical storms so far that season, compared with 12 typically by that point, according to National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan. The article also noted that four storms had formed across the Pacific in a 12-day period the previous month.
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