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Mexico airlifts tourists after Hurricane Odile

CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico: The Mexican government began airlifting the first of tens of thousands of stranded tourists out of the hurricane-ravaged resort area of Los Cabos on Tuesday, as residents picked up the pieces

India TV News Desk India TV News Desk Updated on: September 17, 2014 7:42 IST

Thousands in the state of Baja California Sur remained without electricity, water or phone service. A boat was on its way with humanitarian aid, and authorities were working to restore utilities.

President Enrique Pena Nieto was scheduled to tour the area later, after presiding over an independence day military parade in the capital.

Downgraded to a tropical storm, Odile continued to soak parts of the Baja California Peninsula, and forecasters said it was still capable of unleashing dangerous flash floods and mudslides.

In Los Cabos, Enrique Cota wept as he stood in murky, ankle-deep water and surveyed the destruction at his home. On the kitchen wall, a muddy mark nearly waist-high showed how deep the floodwaters got.

“We'll have to start over, little by little,” Cota said, “because the stove, the refrigerator, the television, the kid's computer—it's all ruined.”

He rode out Odile's landfall in a shelter with firefighters, and said he hadn't slept for two days.

Homes, stores and resorts along Los Cabos' famed hotel row all suffered severe damage, with room windows shattered, facades crumbled and lobbies full of debris.

Emergency officials in Baja California reported that 135 people were treated for minor injuries from flying glass or falling objects.

But surprisingly for a hurricane of this intensity—it made landfall as a monster Category 3 storm—there were no reports so far of fatalities directly related to Odile.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said that by late Tuesday afternoon Tropical Storm Odile had maximum sustained winds near 50 mph (85 kph). It was centered about 150 miles (245 kilometers) south-southeast of Puerto Penasco, and was moving to the north near 7 mph (11 kph).

Farther south in the Pacific, Tropical Storm Polo formed off southern Mexico early Tuesday.

It was centered 260 miles (415 kilometers) south of Acapulco with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph), and was moving northwest parallel to the coast at 12 mph (19 kph). The hurricane center predicted that Polo could become a hurricane later in the week.

Meanwhile in the central Atlantic, Hurricane Edouard was a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds near 105 mph (165 kph). It was forecast to pose no threat to land.

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