Residents Evacuated From Resort Town of Cabo San Lucas

More than 1,000 evacuated from Mexico's Los Cabos ahead of tropical storm

October 25, 2006

This is probably a non-story since the storm is slowing down quite a bit. I don't think there are any missionaries stationed in Los Cabos since they're mostly resort towns, but I'm still trying to reach the Tijuana Mission Office to confirm that. I think the real story will be the flooding in Sinaloa once the storm makes landfall.

SAN JOSE DEL CABO, Mexico – More than 1,000 residents of the twin resorts of Los
Cabos were being evacuated to shelters ahead of Tropical Storm Paul, which was
weakening as it headed toward the tip of Mexico's Baja California peninsula.
The storm was expected to slip just south of Los Cabos early Wednesday
before plunging into mainland Mexico around the state of Sinaloa early Thursday,
unleashing rain that could cause dangerous flooding. Victims of the storm
included a Baja California fisherman who died after slipping off sea-battered
rocks and an American who was swept out to sea and feared drowned.

Even though it's weakening, they're still evacuating the resorts and low-lying areas. The storm is currently rated a Cat 1 and has potential to drop up to 10 inches of rain. President Vazquez of the Culiacan, Sinaloa Mission and his AP's have been in contact with all missionaries in their mission and advised them to take necessary precautions. These include: stocking up on food and water ahead of the storm, remaining inside their apartments during the storm, locating the nearest higher ground and safest escape routes. All missionaries are instructed to communicate with the mission office immediatelly if there is any apparent flooding in their area.

The storm is scheduled to make landfall today around 5:00pm. Care Package Express will be in contact with the mission office throughout the day today and tomorrow and will report with any updates.

Peter Hightower

***Update 10/25/06 2:30 pm
I just discovered that Los Cabos is actually in the Culiacan Mission, NOT the Tijuana Mission. There are apparently elders stationed there but I have not been able to confirm if they were evacuated. I suspect not else it would have been easier to confirm.

***Update 10/26/06 10:30am
Just spoke with Elder Hamilton from the mission office who confirmed that everything went as well as could be expected during the storm. All missionaries are safe and accounted for. There was no major flooding to be reported and all services are available.