Baja's 'strongest ever' hurricane set to make landfall tonight
Hurricane Jimena, almost a Category 5 storm, continues to and fishing villages on the Baja California peninsula.
"This may be the to hit the region," said Jos茅 Gaj贸n, the director of civil protection for the state of Baja California Sur.
Winds on Monday night neared 155 mph, which puts it just shy of a devastating Category 5 storm. Even if it weakens before hitting land (expected Tuesday evening) forecasters say as a major hurricane.
Mexican authorities focused on evacuation throughout Monday, urging up to 10,000 people to evacuate. Many refused, but the government said it would begin forced evacuations. "We are going to start by inviting people to leave... the moment will come when we will have to ," Garibaldo Romero, the interior secretary for the municipal government, said.
The US National Hurricane Center , and consequent battering waves, could "produce significant coastal flooding along the Baja California peninsula."
The US State Department on Monday.
"US citizens located in areas likely to be impacted by Hurricane Jimena and who do not have access to adequate and safe shelter should consider departing while commercial flights are still available," it warned.
A local hotel association told the Associated Press that were still in the resort town of Los Cabos. A tax conference, by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) was supposed to have convened in Los Cabos but was moved to Mexico City for talks Tuesday and Wednesday. had already begun to arrive in the resort town.
Hurricane Jimena is the in the eastern Pacific to threaten Mexico.
