Hurricane Jimena sent tourists fleeing from Mexico's Baja California, but many villagers ignored appeals to evacuate and hunkered down to tough it out.

Jimena weakened to a Category Three hurricane as it spiralled in from the Pacific packing winds of almost above 120 miles (195 kilometres) per hour, with higher gusts, scaring off tourists from Los Cabos and other resorts dotting the peninsula's southern tip.

Unprecedented phenomenon

"This phenomenon is unprecedented. In the history of the peninsula, we have not had a storm of the force of Jimena," Jose Gajon, director of the Baja California Sur civil protection service, said in a local radio interview.

"It has been raining since yesterday, many places are totally inundated and cut off and that's even before the storm has really made its presence felt."

As last minute thrill-seekers dipped into the massive surf of Palmilla Beach, officials struggled to convince local inhabitants of the poor, largely arid and mountainous spit of land that they must seek emergency shelter.

"Unfortunately we have families that are refusing to leave their homes, so if it becomes necessary, they will be evacuated by force for their own good," warned Francisco Cota, civil defence chief in Los Cabos.

The authorities said they had succeeded in evacuating some 15 000 families judged to be living in high-risk zones — prone to flooding or near the coast — but thousands more remained.

As the first major gusts hit, residents of Los Cabos frantically boarded up their homes and stocked up on last-minute provisions before rushing home to ride out the storm.

"I just came out to buy water, and I had to come all the way to the supermarket because the local shops were closed," Laura Perez told AFP. "I heard the hurricane is almost here, right? As soon as I get my water, I'm going home."

In nearby Puerto San Carlos, a fishing village of 4000 people further north and directly on Jimena's path, work continued as normal at a local sardine plant.

"We are still not prepared. They just told us today to start bringing people to shelters," one labourer told AFP.

Tourists fled in droves

Across the region tourists fled in droves and the local hotel association estimated that some 7000 would have left or been evacuated by the time the storm arrived.

"I'm leaving Los Cabos, advancing my departure, because I know a lot about hurricanes. I'm a Florida native and I know its effects," one American, Jesse Short, told AFP at the airport.

Martin Pablo Zazueta, the manager of the international airport at Los Cabos, said it would close well before the hurricane hit.

"Various airlines, in particular foreign ones, are applying the rescue plan to take any tourist who wants to go out of Los Cabos in the face of the threat posed by Jimena.

"So far about 1000 tourists, mostly Americans, have decided to return to their country," he said.

Rains and strong winds buffeted southern areas of Baja California around Los Cabos on Tuesday but the storm was not expected to make landfall until Wednesday evening at the earliest.

"If it was to follow this track it would hit land at sometime on Wednesday evening or early Thursday morning," a spokesperson for the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said.

"This is certainly not the strongest hurricane there has been in this part of the world. We had one 12 years ago, Hurricane Linda, that was much stronger than Jimena," he added.

The US State Department urged caution in travelling to areas of Mexico and the parts of the United States lying in the storm's path.

"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 said in an alert.

Not all were prepared to leave the Los Cabos area.

A defiant Gregory Smith, from New York, quipped: "Many Americans are leaving, but I'm going to stay here."

The centre of the hurricane was 85 miles (135 kilometres) southwest of Cabo San Lucas as of 2100 GMT on Tuesday, the NHC said, adding that it was moving north-northwestward at about 12 miles (19 kilometres) per hour.

Hurricane force winds are extending outward up to 45 miles (74 kilometres) from the centre, while tropical storm force winds extend up to 140 miles, forecasters said.

AFP

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