Hurricane Polo makes landfall in Mexico as heavy rains bring floods to U.S. Southwest

PUERTO SAN CARLOS, Mexico  — Hurricane Polo pummeled the Mexican state of Baja California Sur with powerful winds and rain as it made landfall Tuesday, leaving coastal areas flooded and streets littered with fallen trees.

The Category 2 hurricane struck land just south of Las Barrancas, Mexico, about 80 miles north of Cabo San Lazaro, with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph.

About 700 people remained in shelters Tuesday. But they were expected to return to their homes, and no serious damage or deaths were immediately reported, according to authorities.

By midday Tuesday, Polo made a second landfall and weakened to become a tropical storm as it moved inland through the Mexican state of Sonora after crossing the Gulf of California.

Remnants of the storm were expected to track northeastward, adding to heavy rains already bringing floods to parts of the U.S. Southwest.

Forecasters warned north-central New Mexico, including Albuquerque and Santa Fe, could feel the brunt of the complex tropical system, with as much as 3 to 4 inches of rain through Wednesday and possibly more.

‘We were lucky’

After Polo passed over the small fishing town of Puerto San Carlos on the Baja California peninsula, residents waded among downed trees through ankle-high water that flooded some homes. Seeing their roughened community largely intact brought relief to those who had prepared for the worst.

Shopkeeper Elbia María Bachomo, 40, picked through furniture strewn through her home. She and her three children had gathered clothes quickly and left for a shelter Monday as water began flooding into their home.

Her husband was out on the water fishing for sardines when Polo hit. Bachomo said he was fortunate to escape alive.

“I thought, ‘Oh no, what are we going to come back to? We will be left with nothing.’ But we were lucky,” she said.

Polo was expected to produce 6 to 12 inches of rain across parts of Baja California Sur.

Forecasters predicted Polo would hit the Mexican mainland with life-threatening winds and flash floods. Sonora officials suspended all “nonessential” activities, including school, sports and work in the state capital and more than a dozen municipalities.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Rachel was reported moving parallel to Mexico’s coast early Tuesday. The storm was about 265 miles southwest of Lazaro Cardenos with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph. It was moving west-northwest at 13 mph.

Southwest U.S. sees heavy rains, floods

Bands of rain continued to sweep across the U.S. Southwest on Tuesday, causing desert rivers to surge and usually dry arroyos to rage with floodwater. Nearly all of the region was under flood watches as the complex system of tropical weather — with Polo the main event — spread northeast from Mexico.

“Definitely looking at the chances for urban flooding,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Carter Greulich in Albuquerque. “Don’t drive through flooded roadways. Remain out of the arroyos, especially in our urban areas.”

The system made a brisk pass through Phoenix early Tuesday, dumping up to 2 inches of rain before tapering. North of the city, a truck was swept away in a wash in the New River area. The driver got out safely, Maricopa County sheriff’s officials said.

The rocky, desert area typically gets less than 10 inches of rain annually, and with little vegetation to soak it up, flash flooding is a perpetual risk.

Near Zion National Park in Utah, the East Fork of the Virgin River raged with chocolate floodwater seen carrying a shipping container downstream.

In the small town of Orderville, Utah, where flooding began Monday night, Sabrina Dubay was driving home when her partner called and told her to stay away.

“The river came in and swept around the entirety of our house,” Dubay said, adding that her partner told her: “We’re about to lose everything.”

El Niño fueled rapid intensification

At one point Tuesday, Polo was declared a Category 5 hurricane, the third Category 5 storm in the Pacific this season. The rapid intensification of Polo had stunned scientists and authorities alike.

Philip Klotzbach, research scientist in the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University, attributed the intensification to the weather phenomenon known as El Niño, which has fueled crippling droughts in Mexico and Central America and floods elsewhere.

In the Pacific, it has resulted in warmer waters and wind patterns that act as fodder for hurricanes, he said.

“There are all the ingredients that hurricanes need to get really strong really fast,” Klotzbach said.

Meanwhile, in the central Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Nolo remained a dangerous Category 3 on Tuesday as it edged away from Hawaii after drenching parts of the Big Island over the weekend.

Rey and Janetsky and write for the Associated Press.