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TROPICAL-STORM-ROSA- MEXICO
Tropical storm Rosa to hit Mexico’s Baja California coast
MEXICO CITY, Oct. 2, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – Tropical Storm Rosa will make
landfall on Monday night, forcing an evacuation of some 700 families in the
northeast Mexican state of Baja California.
Despite weakening from a hurricane to a tropical storm on Sunday, Rosa is
still generating winds of 75 km per hour and gusts of 95 km per hour at 1:15
p.m. (2015 GMT) local time, according to the National Meteorological Service
(SMN).
SMN predicted that Rosa will hit Baja California between 6 p.m. (0100 GMT
on Tuesday) and 8 p.m. Monday local time.
Around 40,000 inhabitants are facing damage to properties and road closures
due to potential flooding caused by the storm. Several states were feeling
Rosa’s effects on Monday.
Baja California governor Francisco Arturo Vega said that the local
government has declared a red alert, the highest, for the small coastal town
of San Felipe on Baja California peninsula’s eastern coast.
“As a precautionary measure, we are going door-to-door and ordering an
evacuation. Shelters are already in place,” said Vega.
Director General of the Interior Ministry’s civil protection agency Ricardo
de la Cruz said Rosa’s rains, rather than wind speed, are most likely to
cause damage.
Some 800 police and rescuers are in place in case of emergency. The Mexican
Navy has 1,400 personnel on standby.
The local government has suspended school classes on Monday and Tuesday,
and the suspension may be extended to Wednesday.
The SMN predicts that Rosa will move through northwestern Mexican Sonora
state and into the southwestern U.S. state of Arizona, before it dissipates
on Tuesday or Wednesday.
BSS/Xinhua/MSY/1037 hrs