Hurricane Paul to Touch Down Tuesday Afternoon
Hurricane Paul's hurling winds are drawing closer to Mexico's Southern Baja Peninsula, an area located just south of California, and experts anticipate that it will make land Tuesday afternoon.
Gov. Marcos Covarrubias Villasenor, who governs the Mexican state of Baja California Sur, warned residents to stay safe.
"We want citizens to be aware, don't cross streams unnecessarily, and stay in your homes if you don't need to leave to avoid creating traffic," he said. "The forecast is for heavy amounts of rainfall in most of the state."
According to The National Hurricane Center (NHC), the hurricane has already begun the process of weakening and, due to high terrain and cool waters, will continue to weaken as it lands and travels across the Baja Peninsula. The NHC expects that it will become a tropical depression within the next 36 hours.
As a safety precaution, the state government prepared 143 shelters with the capacity to house up to 35,000 people. Meanwhile, schools statewide and many ports across the state have been shut down for the day.
Some residents who live by the chain of mountains that run up the spine of the Baja Peninsula, however, are not worried about the effects of the storm.
"Here in Loreto, we're protected by the mountains. We don't foresee any big concern," said Pascal Pellegrino, who manages a hotel in the area, according to a report by the Associated Press.
Hurricane Paul comes at a time of storm activity in the Atlantic as well; Hurricane Rafael is expected to travel east of Bermuda by Tuesday evening.
