Deadly Rains From Hurricane Polo Kill Two Children in Mexico, Triggers Flood Watches in 11 US States

Hurricane Polo's rains killed two children in Mexico even before the storm made landfall, officials confirmed. Polo has since come ashore twice and pushed inland, and its flooding rain has now triggered flood watches across 11 U.S. states.

Polo Comes Ashore Twice, Toppling Trees and Cutting Power

Polo made its first landfall just south of Las Barrancas in Baja California Sur late Monday night. Winds were sustained at 110 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). The storm struck a stretch of coastline far less populated than the Los Cabos resort corridor. Even so, the sea breached sand barriers in at least one nearby fishing village. Streets flooded, power went out, and palm trees swayed violently in the wind. Mexico's National Weather Service recorded sustained winds of 150 to 170 km/h, gusts up to 200 km/h, and waves 7 to 9 meters high.

Polo made a second landfall Tuesday morning near Guaymas in the Mexican state of Sonora, after crossing the Gulf of California. It came ashore weaker, but still as a dangerous hurricane. Fallen tree branches were reported in Loreto. Authorities in Sonora suspended nonessential activities ahead of the storm, including school and work, across the state capital and more than a dozen municipalities. Roughly 169 shelters opened across Baja California Sur, though only a handful of homes and businesses in the hardest-hit areas had been boarded up or sandbagged in advance.

Mexico's National Weather Service head, Fabián Vázquez, warned that storm surge and heavy rain could cause what he called "very severe" damage. The Mexican navy said it had personnel and three vessels ready along the northern Pacific coast, prepared to deliver aid to communities isolated by the storm.