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Storm leaves many Mexicans homeless

Heavy rains destroyed homes, killed livestock and washed out roads through the middle of Baja California, officials said on Sunday, as Tropical Storm John continued its advance up the peninsula.

Nobody had died from the storm, but many were left homeless in the northern part of the state of Baja California Sur, which covers the southern portion of the peninsula.

"It has rained more than ever before in our history," said Jose Gajon de la Toba, the state's civil protection director.

Gajon said it was still too early to estimate how many people had lost their homes in the storm. Many homes made of plywood and tar paper were flooded or destroyed. Crops were destroyed, and cows, goats and sheep died in the storm, he said.

Mexican President Vicente Fox was expected to visit the region and tour La Paz, a city of 150,000 where the storm did serious damage. Navy helicopters were to fly food and water to the most isolated regions.

The state's highways were spared, but local roads were "in pieces," cutting off small communities, Gajon said. The hardest hit regions of the state were the counties of Loreto, Comondu and Mulege.

The storm approached the peninsula from the southwest on Thursday as the strongest hurricane to threaten the region in recent memory. It spared the coastal resort of Los Cabos on Friday as it shifted to the east and its winds weakened as it traveled up the peninsula.

Much of the state's telephone communication was cut off on Sunday because the storm had damaged lines to the rest of the country. Electricity service and cellular phone service were out in much of the state.

By Sunday night, the storm was still dumping rain on a large part of the arid peninsula and threatening flash floods. The US' national hurricane center in Miami said that up to 15cm of rain was expected, with as much as 45cm in some places.

The storm was downgraded to a tropical depression on Sunday evening. By 8pm, centered 129km northwest of Santa Rosalia, its strongest winds had dissipated to 56kph. Forecasters said it would continue to move north along the east coast of Baja, bringing heavy rains to northern Baja and southern California.

The airport serving Los Cabos reopened on Saturday and was jammed with tourists on Sunday trying to catch flights out of the beach towns.

While the storm spoiled some vacations, it destroyed the homes of many employees who work at the large hotels.

Los Cabos Mayor Luis Armando Diaz said the hurricane had damaged homes and cut off the highway between his town and La Paz.

The authorities said floodwaters had swept one man away on Saturday in La Paz, but he was found alive hours later, clinging to a branch in the middle of a stream.
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