LOS CABOS, Mexico (AP) — A tropical storm formed Wednesday in the Pacific off Mexico’s southern coast and strengthened some as it slowly moved northward, possibly to grow into a hurricane.
Tropical Storm Odile was centered about 195 miles (310 kilometers) south-southwest of Lazaro Cardenas and edging northwest at 3 mph (6 kph) late Wednesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. The storm’s center was expected to remain offshore through Friday.
The storm’s maximum sustained winds had risen to around 45 mph (75 kph).
No coastal warnings were in effect, but the hurricane center predicted swells from the storm would begin affecting parts of Mexico’s southwestern coast.
The storm could become a hurricane Friday and a forecast track shows it hitting the area around Los Cabos at the southern end of the Baja Peninsula over the weekend, the center said.
Early Saturday, high surf and waves from Hurricane Norbert broke a containment wall and flooded the fishing village of Puerto San Carlos in the same area, damaging 1,250 houses and forcing hundreds to flee to shelters. At least 2,000 people were evacuated from Los Cabos, La Paz and Comondu.
Wenceslao Pettit, director of Civil Protection in Cabo San Lucas, said Wednesday that many of the evacuees remained in shelters and that authorities planned to meet in the next two days to prepare for any emergency caused by Odile.
There are about 12,000 families in Los Cabos living in areas prone to flooding, he said.
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