Hurricane Hilary: California, Mexico brace for flooding

Hurricane Hilary headed for Mexico's Baja California on Saturday as the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) predicted "catastrophic and life-threatening flooding" for the peninsula and for the southwestern United States.

Early on Saturday, the storm was centered about 235 miles (375 kilometers) west of the southern tip of the Baja peninsula.

It was moving north-northwest at 16 miles per hour (26 kilometers per hour) and was expected to turn more toward the north and pick up speed.

After rapidly gaining power early Friday, Hilary slowed somewhat but remained a major Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 125 miles per hour (205 kilometers per hour), down from 145 miles per hour.

The hurricane is expected to weaken further as it moves toward southern California on Friday, where it would be the region's first tropical storm in 84 years.

Mexico cancels non-essential activities

The Mexican state of Baja California canceled non-essential public activities, through Monday.

Residents and workers in the tourist resort of Cabo San Lucas have put up protective boarding and laid thousands of sandbags as large waves began crashing ashore.

Military personnel were seen patrolling the beach in the city, a popular destination for both Mexican and foreign tourists.

Authorities in Tijuana began setting up temporary shelters and clearing stormwater trains as the hurricane approached. The hilly city is particularly prone to landslides.

"We are a vulnerable city being on one of the most visited borders in the world and because of our landscape," Mayor Montserrat Caballero Ramirez said.

In the neighboring state of Baja California Sur, authorities postponed a large baseball match and closed ports.

"Without being alarmist, we must all take precautions and stock up on water and basic necessities at home, without resorting to panic buying," the state's governor Víctor Manuel Castro Cosio said.

Southern California on high alert

In the south of the US state of California, some national parks were closed and Major League Baseball games were relocated in anticipation of extreme weather, the likes of which has not been seen in decades.

Several cities distributed sandbags to protect properties against floodwaters.

"Hilary is expected to weaken to a tropical storm by late Sunday before it reaches southern California," the Miami-based NHC said.

The remnants of hurricanes from Mexico sometimes affect California, but it is rare for cyclones to strike the state with tropical storm intensity.

Heavy rains are also expected to batter the neighboring states of Arizona and Nevada.

NHS Deputy Director Jamie Rhome warned of flood risks in major cities including San Diego, Los Angeles, Palm Springs and Las Vegas.

"If you've got weekend plans, it's probably time to start altering those plans," he said.

mm, zc/wd (AP, AFP, Reuters)