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Hurricane Ignacio threatens Baja
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WEATHER/08/24/ignacio/index.html
August 24, 2003
(CNN) -- Hurricane Ignacio menaced Baja California on Sunday with winds in excess of 100 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center, which said
the storm could become a major one later in the day.
In its 11 a.m. ET advisory, the center said Ignacio's winds had increased to 105 mph, making it a Category 2 hurricane. If winds reach between 111 and
130 mph, the storm would reach Category 3 status.
The storm's center was about 45 miles east of San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, moving toward the north at about 6 mph. Forecasters expected a gradual turn
toward the north-northwest later in the day, but were unsure if the Ignacio's center would make landfall or continue to track the peninsula's east
coast.
Matthew Goehler, an American living in Cabo Pulmo about 60 miles north of Baja's tip at San Lucas on the peninsula's east coast, said the 100
residents of the tiny, solar-powered village were busily taking solar panels off their roofs and securing loose items.
"It's not raining a terrible amount right now," Goehler told CNN by satellite phone, "but the winds are pretty fast. The ocean's risen probably 30
yards and it's blasting against the homes on the beach."
Asked how far he lived from the beach, Goehler replied, "Right now? About 500 yards."
If Ignacio, the Pacific 2003 season's first hurricane, continues to draw power from the warm waters of the Sea of Cortes without making landfall, the
forecasters said that the storm "could become significantly stronger."
The Mexican government issued hurricane warnings for the southern Baja California peninsula from south of San Evaristo on the east coast and south of
Bahia Magdalena on the west coast. Tropical storm warnings remained in effect from Loreto to San Evaristo and from Puerto San Andresito to Bahia
Magdalena.
The center predicted 10 to 15 inches of rainfall in the warning area and said the rains could cause "life-threatening" flash floods and mudslides.
Battering waves could push coastal surge floods to five to seven feet above normal near and to the east of landfall, the hurricane center said.
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FrankO
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http://www.intellicast.com/Local/USNationalWide.asp?loc=usa&...
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Stephanie Jackter
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This always happens....
I leave Baja and you guys finally get a good storm. Hope you got the hatches battoned down, Tucker. - Stephanie
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http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=687&pid=2842
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A ring of clouds is formed in the sky as boats are seen in the ocean as Hurricane Ignacio comes close to La Paz Sunday Aug. 24, 2003, in
Mexico.Hurricane Ignacio sideswiped the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula Sunday, battering the region with winds topping 105 mph (165
kph) as authorities closed a major airport, scrambled fishing vessels and evacuated low-lying areas.(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
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Jim Rhodes ties up his boat called Inspiration as Hurricane Ignacio approaches downtown La Paz Sunday Aug. 24, 2003, in Mexico. Hurricane Ignacio
sideswiped the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula Sunday, battering the region with winds topping 105 mph (165 kph) as authorities closed a
major airport, scrambled fishing vessels and evacuated low-lying areas.(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
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Sergio Galindo and his wife Elaida Ojeda tape up the window of their clothing shop as Hurricane Ignacio approaches downtown La Paz Sunday Aug. 24,
2003, in Mexico. Hurricane Ignacio sideswiped the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula Sunday, battering the region with winds topping 105
mph (165 kph) as authorities closed a major airport, scrambled fishing vessels and evacuated low-lying areas.(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
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NASA satellite image shows Hurricane Ignacio over Baja California. Torrential rains were flooding parts of Mexico as the slow-moving Hurricane hovered
over the Gulf of California between the Baja California peninsula and the mainland.(AFP/NASA)
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AP Video (requires RealPlayer):
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/audiovideo/2003082...
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Navy sailors pull a boat out of the water as Hurricane Ignacio passes through La Paz, Mexico Monday Aug. 25, 2003. Nearly 3,000 people took refuge in
shelters as Hurricane Ignacio roared along the coast of Baja California on Monday, bending palm trees with winds topping 90 mph and lashing tourist
resorts with sheets of rain. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
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Mexican authorities fight to evacuate residents as hurricane sweeps Baja California
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/20030825-0826-mexi...
By Mark Stevenson
ASSOCIATED PRESS
August 25, 2003
LA PAZ, Mexico ? Nearly 3,000 people took refuge in shelters as Hurricane Ignacio roared along the coast of Baja California on Monday, bending palm
trees with winds topping 90 mph and lashing tourist resorts with sheets of rain.
The hurricane knocked down trees, signs and power poles in the fishing port of La Paz and cut power to part of the city.
"Our big job now is to take care of the people in the shelters" at local schools, said Juan Manuel Rivera, civil defense director for Baja California
Sur state. He said there were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries.
One of those who abandoned a cardboard dwelling for the safety of a university campus was Abram Pineda, 22.
"We left our house last night because it felt like the house was going to blow away," he said.
For others, it merely meant an interrupted fishing vacation.
"It could have been worse. It could have caught us while we were out there," said Buddy Holt, 36, of Dallas, as he watched the choppy water off of La
Paz's boardwalk.
By Monday, the hurricane's winds weakened slightly to 85 mph but it was still just 20 miles northeast of La Paz.
Forecasts indicated the storm might bring rainfall to the southwestern United States as it advances and weakens, but forecaster Dave Roberts at the
National Hurricane Center said, "I wouldn't think it would be drastic."
The storm's predicted course, adjusted slightly westward on Monday, would have Ignacio march slowly up the Gulf of California over the tourist town of
Loreto, then cross the peninsula and emerge near Rosarito, another popular tourist area.
Authorities closed all ports in Baja California Sur on Sunday and tried to convince residents of low-lying shanty towns to move into shelters set up
in schools.
"If they won't leave, we'll ask the army to go in and get them out of their houses," said Gov. Leonel Cota. "We have to evacuate them for their own
good."
State officials said Sunday night that flooding had cut one coastal highway, and a few beach huts had been destroyed, but they called the damage
minor. They were concerned most about shantytowns of cardboard shacks built practically in riverbeds, like the hamlet of Agua Escondida on the
outskirts of La Paz.
Communities hunkered down together. A dozen people gathered on the ground floor in Juan Lopez' food store ? one of the few solid two-story buildings
in Agua Escondida. A dozen more were expected, as Lopez' wife, Maria Elena Armendariz, prepared to feed them all.
"We've been here for 24 years," Armendariz said, "and we're not leaving now."
Small fishing boats were pulled out of the water and moored to palm trees around La Paz. Larger boats were either tied up to docks or headed out to
sea to ride out the storm.
The hurricane bypassed the resort city of Cabo San Lucas, known for its deep sea fishing and golf courses.
Ignacio's center remained over the gulf Monday. The storm drifted slowly northwest along the eastern edge of the Baja California peninsula at about 3
mph.
Hurricane-force winds extended out up to 25 miles from the center, and tropical-storm force winds extended out up to 70 miles.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said rainfall of more than 20 inches could cause life-threatening flash flooding and mud slides.
Martin Cruz, a 33-year-old construction worker, left his house in the hamlet of Progreso with daughters Isabel, 5, Reina, 8, and wife, Angela. They
took shelter in a university.
Flo and Jim Rhodes, a couple from Scottsdale, Ariz., touring the Mexican coast, tied their yacht Inspiration to a dock as the wind picked up and rain
started to fall on the La Paz marina.
"We're going to ride it out right here," said Jim Rhodes.
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Kenny Mackie, 48, of Long Butte, British Columbia, speaks with journalists Monday Aug. 25, 2003, after his 30-foot sailboat 'Inertia', center, was
ripped from its mooring in La Paz harbor in the pre-dawn darkness. Hurricane Ignacio drenched fishermen and tourists Monday along the Baja California
Peninsula, where it stalled after forcing more than 3,000 people from their homes. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
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Navy sailors pull a boat out of the water as Hurricane Igancio approaches La Paz, Mexico, Monday, Aug. 25, 2003. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
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Hurricane hovers over southern Baja California
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/20030825-1448-mexi...
By Mark Stevenson
ASSOCIATED PRESS
2:48 p.m., August 25, 2003
LA PAZ, Mexico ? Hurricane Ignacio crept closer to the southern Baja California Peninsula on Monday, drenching fishermen and tourists and forcing
thousands of people from their homes.
Officials said they had evacuated nearly 3,000 people as the Hurricane Ignacio roared along the coast, cutting a highway, blowing down beach huts and
bending palm trees with winds that topped 90 mph (150 kph).
The Red Cross said there were no reports of any deaths or injuries, but there were moments of fear.
Kenny Mackie, 48, of Long Butte, British Colombia, watched as his 30-foot (9-meter) sailboat "Inertia" was ripped from its mooring in the La Paz
harbor in the pre-dawn darkness.
"We could see it going, but when the salt is spraying, the ropes are chafing and the wind is blowing 70 miles per hour, there's nothing you can do,"
said Mackie. "The sea is just going to do what it's going to do."
Mackie tried to rescue the sturdy little craft that first brought him to La Paz 12 years ago, jumping across rocks to board the tossing boat to try to
attach tow lines.
A La Paz community group known as the Pentatlon and Mexican sailors dragged the nine-ton boat 50 yards (45 meters) to a safe sand beach.
"It was an equipment failure," Mackie said dryly later, as he showed how the force of the hurricane had broken the boat's 1 1/4-inch nylon mooring
rope.
Juana Quijana Cota, a grandmother and resident of one of La Paz's low-lying shanty towns, spent the night at an improvised shelter in the state
university.
"Near dawn, the wind was blowing so hard the rain was coming through the cracks and we though the windows were going to blow out," said Quijana, who
was accompanied by her husband, daughter and granddaughter.
Officials said about 3,000 people spent the night in shelters, with some beginning to return to their homes and survey damages in the Monday
afternoon.
Moving at a leisurely 3 mph (5 kph) Monday afternoon, the hurricane drifted slightly to the West, creeping closer to land off La Paz bay near this
state capital and fishing harbor.
Through much of the morning, Mexican sailors using motorboats struggled against strong winds to pull sailboats off the rocks in the harbor of La Paz,
the state capital and a center for fishermen and tourists.
Rear Admiral Joaquin Garciasilva said those aboard small civilian boats had been evacuated to shore, leaving behind a few craft loose on the
storm-tossed waters.
"It could have been worse. It could have caught us while we were out there," said Buddy Holt, 36, of Dallas, Texas, as he watched the choppy water off
of La Paz's boardwalk.
The hurricane knocked down trees, signs and power poles in the fishing port of La Paz and cut power to part of the city.
By mid-afternoon, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Ignacio's maximum sustained winds had slipped to about 75 mph (120 kph). The center
predicted a gradual weakening over the next 24 hours.
The storm had stalled in the morning about 20 miles (35 kilometers) northeast of La Paz and 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Cabo San Lucas, a
resort at the peninsula's tip.
Forecasters said the storm was likely to crawl slowly up the southern Gulf of California toward Loreto while gradually edging over the peninsula
itself.
Hotels in Loreto and La Paz each receive about 40,000 foreign tourists, mostly U.S. citizens, a year, according to statistics from Mexico's tourism
department.
It was unclear if the storm would eventually move far enough north to bring rain to the southwestern United States.
The hurricane bypassed Cabo San Lucas, known for its deep-sea fishing, golf courses and a famous arch-shaped rock formation.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said rainfall of more than 20 inches (50 centimeters) could cause life-threatening flash flooding and mud
slides.
As La Paz residents emerged to view the damages ? mostly fallen trees ? Mackie surveyed his own predicament.
His same boat had broken free of its mooring during Hurricane Juliette in 2001 and was driven all the way across the bay to run aground, prow first,
in the spit that separates the harbor from the sea.
"I'm kind of angry at her," Mackie said Monday as he stood atop his heeled over boat. "She usually runs aground sitting straight up."
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Bajabus
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Elias calles
Hello all long time no see, I am not in EC right now but here is a report from my neighbor down there:
arroyo flooding big time with the town well under 2-3ft of water, engine and pump destroyed no water in town for awhile, both new bridges holding (in
EC and migrino) but the approaches are iffy and threatened San pedrito arroyo to the north flowing heavy. Winds last night in the 60-70 mile range
heavy rain all coming off the pacific. The ladrona on the highway still selling beer at regular prices (god bless the new bridges....thank you APEC).
Thats all for now. Will post more news from the pacific side as I get it. love you all (even david k)
"Preventive war was an invention of Hitler. Frankly I would not even listen to anyone seriously that came and talked of such a thing."
Dwight David Eisenhower
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David K
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I love you too Max! LOL!!
Thanks for posting... I think I can speak for all the Amigos de Baja, that we miss seeing your posts (here or on Amigos). Of course, Amigos is off
line this week so many of us are using this forum site for communication. Say hi to Lynn...
David
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Bajabus
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well life has been really busy and my free time is limited but I sure do miss posting on nomads site. Don't think you will ever see me on Amigos
again but things are settling down and I hope to again engage in much spirited debate here. Sorry I didn't get a chance to look you up for a beer
while I was staying with EGL & baja barb in SD. Get ready because I am not about to let whiney conservative views go unchallenged. Be good and I
hope all is well with you.
cheers!
"Preventive war was an invention of Hitler. Frankly I would not even listen to anyone seriously that came and talked of such a thing."
Dwight David Eisenhower
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A layer of low, heavy clouds cover the ocean during sunset at La Paz, Mexico Monday Aug. 25, 2003, after Hurricane Ignacio passed over the harbor. (AP
Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
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A Mexican soldier stands near a flooded highway in Los Cabos after Hurricane Ignacio passed over the harbor, August 25, 2003. REUTERS/Daniel Aguilar
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A Mexican policeman runs across a flooded highway in Los Cabos in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur on August 25, 2003 after Hurricane Ignacio
passed over the harbor. REUTERS/Daniel Aguilar
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