The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Hilary’s winds had significantly weakened but were still sustained at a hazardous 90 miles per hour (145 kilometers per hour) with higher gusts.
According to international media reports, Mexico’s Civil Protection agency said in a statement that river and stream levels had risen significantly in Loreto and Mulege on Baja California’s east coast, which was also hit by landslides and road closures.
It added that one person had died after a vehicle was swept away by a stream in Mulege.
Residents and workers in the Mexican tourist resort of Cabo San Lucas have put up protective boarding and laid thousands of sandbags as large waves crash ashore.
Military personnel were seen patrolling the beach in the city, a popular destination for both Mexican and foreign tourists at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula.
“We took all the precautionary measures last night,” Omar Olvera told reporters at the Cabo San Lucas beachfront restaurant where he works.
With sandbags piled protectively around the restaurant, he said, “We’re just looking out for the workers and waiting for the weather to come.”
Hilary originated from a disturbance south of the southern coast of Mexico associated with a tropical wave that entered the far eastern Pacific Ocean from Central America on August 12.
