Javier weakens to rainstorm as it swirls past Mexico’s Baja

CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico – Tropical Storm Javier blew past the southern end of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula and then weakened to a rainstorm Tuesday.

Authorities had evacuated people from low-lying areas around the resort city Cabo San Lucas but no damage or flooding was reported.

By midafternoon, Javier’s winds had weakened to 25 mph (40 kph) and the storm accelerated its forward progress, moving northwest at 10 mph (17 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

It was skirting up the Pacific Coast of Baja California about 25 miles (40 kph) southeast of Cabo San Lazaro.

On Monday, authorities in Cabo San Lucas set up 10 storm shelters, mostly at local schools, and moved about 900 people from homes in low-lying areas near streams and gullies. The resort was closed to navigation, and some owners of smaller fishing boats were seen pulling them onto shore and hauling them away on trailers.

Meanwhile, towns in central and eastern Mexico continued to clean up from the remnants of Hurricane Earl, which triggered landslides that killed 48 people in Veracruz and Puebla states over the weekend.

Among the casualties of Earl were at least 35 people who died in multiple mudslides in the mountainous north of Puebla, Gov. Rafael Moreno Valle said. Officials said rain amounts equivalent to an entire month of normal precipitation fell in one night in some areas.

In neighbouring Veracruz, 13 people lost their lives when mudslides hit the towns of Coscomatepec, Tequila and Huayacocotla, Gov. Javier Duarte said.