Hurricane Polo hit Mexico’s Baja California peninsula in the early hours of Tuesday, bringing gusts of up to 200 km/h (125 mph).
Authorities said life-threatening hurricane conditions were expected to continue for several hours across Baja California Sur, while weather conditions were forecast to worsen in the southern part of Sonora state on the mainland.
Polo came ashore as a Category 2 hurricane south of Las Barrancas, midway down the west coast of the state, an area far less populated than the Los Cabos resort corridor at the southern tip of the peninsula.
According to Mexico’s National Weather Service, the storm brought sustained winds of 150 to 170 km/h with gusts of 180 to 200 km/h and waves measuring 7 to 9 meters high.
The US National Hurricane Center said the storm was expected to dump 15 to 30 cm (6 to 12 inches) of rain across Baja California Sur, with a risk of life-threatening flooding and mudslides.
Polo is still expected to be a hurricane when it makes its second landfall on mainland Mexico after crossing the Gulf of California.
Both Mexican authorities and the NHC urged residents to stay indoors through the morning, either in their homes or in temporary shelters opened in high-risk areas.
Residents in the path of the storm crowded supermarkets over the weekend to stock up on essentials, while business owners boarded up doors and windows ahead of the storm.
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