Mexico Evacuates Stranded Tourists, Takes Stock After Hurricane Odile Anthony Harrup - WSJ.com
go to original September 17, 2014

Tourists board a Mexican Air Force plane at Los Cabos International Airport in Mexico on Wednesday after Hurricane Odile struck the state of Baja California Sur.  (European Pressphoto Agency)

MEXICO CITY — The Mexican government worked Wednesday to evacuate more stranded tourists in the wake of Hurricane Odile, which whipped the Baja California peninsula, knocking out power and phone lines, damaging houses, hotels and other businesses.

Around 11 a.m. EDT Wednesday, Odile remained a tropical storm as it crossed the northern Gulf of California, threatening heavy rainfall in northwestern Mexico and the southwestern U.S. even as it continued weakening, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Flights resumed have from the airport at Los Cabos, with military and commercial aircraft carrying stranded tourists out of the resort, which was the hardest hit when Odile made landfall late Sunday as a category three hurricane.

Tourism Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu told Mexico's Radio Fórmula that around 5,000 tourists were evacuated by air Tuesday, and the effort was continuing Wednesday. An estimated 26,000 foreign tourists and 4,000 Mexican tourists were in Los Cabos when the hurricane struck, according to the Tourism Ministry.

Dozens of people were treated for minor injuries as a result of the storm, although there were no reports of deaths, according to the government.

The most significant damage was to housing and to the tourism services industry, such as hotels, restaurants and shops, Ms. Ruiz Massieu said. There were only minor road blockages, she added.

Read the rest at WSJ.com

Mexico is picking up the pieces after Hurricane Odile blasted parts of Baja California. As CCTV America's Franc Contreras reports, residents and government officials are taking stock of the losses. (CCTV America)

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!