Hurricane Norbert, which ravaged Mexico’s Pacific coast before being downgraded to a tropical depression, has claimed three lives in the north-west state of Sonora, civil defence officials said on Sunday.
Norbert made landfall in Mexico as a category-two hurricane on Saturday, ripping off roofs, knocking down trees and leaving more than 20 000 homes without electricity, local authorities said.
The storm was downgraded on Sunday to a tropical depression after it had largely dissipated, the Mexican weather service said.
Norbert’s wind speeds on Sunday were about 65km/h, with gusts of up to 85km/h, the weather service said, adding that it expected the storm to peter out altogether by day’s end.
It had been classified upon landfall as a category-two hurricane on the five-tiered Saffir-Simpson scale, used to anticipate the property damage, storm surges and flooding that a hurricane can unleash.
In the Baja California capital of La Paz, the once powerful storm knocked out power to 13 000 homes, and to 8 000 more in Ciudad Constitution, the Federal Electricity Commission reported.
La Paz airport suspended operations on Saturday, although the tourist resort of Los Cabos remained open. Hotel reservations were down by about 40% mainly in Los Cabos and Loreto, tourism officials said. — Sapa-AFP