Hurricane drenches Mexico; may help parched U.S. Southwest

Hurricane Norbert dumped heavy rains and prompted evacuations as it marched up the coast of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula on Friday. Forecasters said the storm may help bring weekend precipitation to the parched U.S. Southwest. Baja California Sur state Gov. Marcos Covarrubias urged people in vulnerable areas to evacuate and said travelers should stay off highways as the storm roars past. At least 1,000 people remained in shelters Friday afternoon in Los Cabos, where the storm toppled over trees and knocked out electricity in some parts of the resort area. Firefighters rescued several people from vehicles stranded in flooded streets, said Wenceslao Pettit, Public Safety director in Cabo San Lucas. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Friday evening that Norbert had strengthen a bit with maximum sustained winds near 155 km/h and it was centered about 95 kilometres south of sparsely populated Cabo San Lazaro.

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