Storm Lidia hits Mexico's Baja peninsula with heavy rain and wind

  • 7 years ago
Five people dead with the number expected to rise in Mexico as Tropical Storm Lidia weakens
and begins to make its way to California
Tropical Storm Lidia has caused five deaths in Mexico's Los Cabos with the toll expected to
rise over the weekend Vehicles were swept away by floods and at least one person is missing
Lidia hit the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California Thursday
Shelters in the state were opened to accommodate hundreds of people.Weakening Tropical Storm
Lidia marched up Mexico's Baja California Peninsula, has left tourists stranded and at least
five dead with the number expected to rise as of Saturday.

Streets were flooded as were and residential properties in resort cities after Lidia passed
over a sparsely populated area of the peninsula that is home to a large nature reserve and
back out over Pacific waters.

Authorities have said the death toll could rise over the weekend as emergency crews surveyed
the damage in villages with ramshackle homes. One person was considered missing and video
broadcast on local networks showed vehicles being swept away by flooded rivers.

The dead included two people electrocuted by power lines, a woman drowned after
being swept away by water on a flooded street and a baby who was ripped from its
mother's arms as she crossed a flooded area.

Baja California Sur Gov. Carlos Mendoza said late Friday that there was a fifth
victim but did not give details.Lidia was forecast to lose more strength over the course of
the day.Baja California Sur Gov. Carlos Mendoza reported that Lidia had dumped about 27 inches
of rain,'the largest amount of water we have had since 1933.'

Lidia's maximum sustained winds dropped to 40mph, just above the minimum threshold for a tropical
storm, as its center passed over a sparsely populated area of the peninsula that is home to a large
nature reserve and back out over Pacific waters. It was forecast to lose more strength over the course of the day.

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