Hurricane Polo struck Mexico early Tuesday morning as a powerful storm, bringing severe winds, power outages, and the threat of widespread inundation, according to Radio Francia Internacional. Operating as a Category 3 storm, the system carried top sustained winds of 115 mph to 125 mph (185 kph), as reported by the Associated Press and the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. Before reaching the coast, the system exhibited erratic behavior with sudden intensity shifts, fluctuating between Category 4 and Category 5 levels before arriving on land.
Hurricane Polo Makes Landfall With Life-Threatening Winds and Floods
As the storm bore down, residents across Baja California Sur boarded up homes, while workers hauled dirt and rubble to shore up earthen embankments, according to the Korea Times. In Puerto San Carlos, a fishing community of approximately 5,700 inhabitants, high tides and pounding waves breached sea barriers as street-level flooding began.
Civil Protection told those of us here in San Carlos to evacuate because this is a high-risk area. With the current tides, the expected waves and the wind, the earthen barriers they built (to prevent flooding) could give way,
fisherwoman Rocío Sánchez told the Associated Press.
Evacuations and Official Preparedness Measures
Hundreds of people evacuated high-risk zones, seeking refuge in local shelters set up in schools and other facilities. Laura Velázquez, national coordinator of Mexico’s Civil Protection Agency, urged residents to stay off the streets and seek shelter if their homes were vulnerable, noting that travel would be suspended and regional ports would close, according to reports by the Orange County Register and AOL.
While many complied, others chose to stay behind. Salvador Palma opted to remain in a coastal fishing colony with his family, stating that he felt more secure staying put, while military personnel noted they lacked the authority to force evacuations. Margarita Bobadilla and her family chose to shelter in a local school instead of remaining in their wooden home.
Material things can be replaced, but family can’t. My children and I decided to come here last night, and now we’re waiting to see what happens,
Bobadilla told the Orange County Register.
The Mexican navy gathered personnel and humanitarian aid supplies in the Pacific ports of Guaymas and Mazatlan, deploying three vessels to assist coastal communities that might become isolated by the severe weather, according to the Korea Times. In Baja California Sur specifically, military forces deployed nearly 7,000 personnel, and authorities suspended classes alongside professional work duties for public employees, as reported by Radio Francia Internacional.
Inland Track and Regional Impact
Forecasters projected that 6 to 12 inches of rain would accompany the system, triggering deadly flash floods and mudslides across affected regions, according to the Associated Press. The storm’s eye passed just south of Las Barrancas, roughly 180 kilometers from Puerto San Carlos, while weather alerts subsequently expanded northward to Sonora on the Mexican mainland.
The government of Sonora announced the suspension of non-essential activities, including school, sports, and non-essential work across the state capital and over a dozen municipalities ahead of the storm’s arrival. Meteorologists indicated that Polo is expected to make a second landfall in Sonora before rapidly weakening.
Moisture from Polo combined with remnants of former hurricane Odalys is anticipated to drop between 4 and 8 inches of rain across parts of the south and central United States, threatening flash floods in states such as Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas.
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