Baja California Sur begins the most intense phase of the hurricane season with its five municipalities classified as at very high risk from tropical cyclones. The National Civil Protection Coordination confirmed 27 critical flood points and an exposed population of almost 800 thousand people, all of its inhabitants.
Risk map
Comondú concentrates the greatest vulnerability to flooding, due to its plain geography where runoff from neighboring municipalities accumulates. In the diagnosis, 12 critical points are in Los Cabos, 10 in La Paz, three in Comondú, one in Mulegé and one in Loreto. Mulegé also faces the risk of landslides.
Laura Velázquez Alzúa, national coordinator of Civil Protection, recalled that since 1950 NOAA has documented 80 tropical systems that impacted or passed near BCS. Cyclone Liza, in 1976, is the most serious disaster: it left a thousand dead and nearly 20 thousand people affected.
“History is formative; it gives us information to prepare for tomorrow,” said Velázquez.
Preparations and shelters
The National Meteorological Service predicts up to 21 cyclones in the Mexican Pacific. The state undersecretary of Civil Protection, Héctor Amparano Herrera, reported that there are 169 temporary shelters with capacity for 33,192 people, with the possibility of expansion. In Los Cabos, 256 tons of waste have been removed from 13 kilometers of streams.
Governor Víctor Castro Cosío requested coordination with mayors and recognized the support of the Armed Forces. “It is time to close ranks,” warned Velázquez, insisting on vigilance due to slope instability.
