Baja Explorer

LA PAZ, Mexico
Hurricane Norbert regained power as a Category 2 storm in the Pacific today, churning toward Mexico’s Baja California peninsula and forcing hundreds of people to flee to shelters. Norbert was packing maximum sustained winds of 100 miles per hour and was due to make landfall near the city of La Paz tomorrow, missing a direct hit on the beach resort of Los Cabos, a popular destination for U.S. tourists, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. Rescue authorities began evacuating people from low-lying areas on the western side of the peninsula, which is not home to oil installations, as the first rains lashed the coast. “This is now upon us, we expect the worst on Saturday morning,” said Jose Gajon, head of the Baja California Sur civil protection agency.

Fisherman in La Paz hauled their boats out of the water and tourists checked out of seafront hotels to head further north, while businesses and offices taped and boarded up windows. One of the main grocery chains in the peninsula began handing out fliers for customers telling people to stock up on water, tuna, bread and canned chilies. “I’m doing a lot of praying,” said Gibson Lewis, a tourist from Olympia, Washington as he tied up his boat at the marina. Others appeared relaxed. “The tourists are going to be hiding in their hotels, but the locals know. We have a culture here about hurricanes; we’re used to it,” said Ricky Lieras, a La Paz resident. At Los Cabos the beaches were deserted and honeymooners stayed indoors.

After crossing the peninsula, Norbert could pummel into the agricultural states of Sonora and Sinaloa early Sunday with heavy rains, but was not expected to cause any damage to mining interests in northern Mexico. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Odile, south of Norbert in the Pacific, strengthened today, threatening to dump rain on parts of Guatemala and southern Mexico, putting the region at risk of flash floods and mudslides. Odile’s winds reached nearly 60 miles per hour and it is forecast to become a hurricane soon.

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Mexico’s finance minister has said that crime and violence have had a significant impact on the country’s economy, cutting growth by 1%. Agustin Carstens said the country’s insecurity was stopping companies from investing and creating fewer jobs. At least 2,700 people have been killed and 300 kidnapped in Mexico this year, mostly in drugs-related violence. On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people attended marches across Mexico to protest against rising crime rates. The BBC’s Warren Bull says that Mexicans are used to hearing about the impact of violent crime on their society, but now the government has said there is an economic consequence. Mr Carstens told the Reforma newspaper that the need for extra security was increasing business costs by up to 10%, which was damaging job creation, sales and development. “We estimate that this feeling of insecurity in the country takes away approximately one percentage point of growth,” he said. But he said that there were businesses which would be willing to invest in Mexico if the rule of law were stronger, and proposed a tougher regime against money laundering. Read the rest of this entry »

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There has been a change on dates for the Coyote 300 desert race in La Paz. The event will be at the weekend 21st. June 2008. All other information in the post before.