Germans celebrate New Year's Eve with a particularly intense usage of fireworks, which spurs a recurrent debate about outlawing the most powerful devices
world2 days ago
Hurricane Norma is expected to slam into Mexico's northwestern coast within hours, bringing "life-threatening" winds, flooding and a dangerous sea surge, authorities warned Saturday.
The storm, still powerful though downgraded overnight from Category 3 to Category 2 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, was headed toward a part of Mexico's Baja California coast popular with tourists.
As of late morning, it was 65 kilometres (40 miles) west-southwest of the Cabo San Lucas resort town, whose 200,000 inhabitants were scrambling to make last-minute preparations.
Norma was moving northward at 15 kilometres (9 miles) per hour, packing wind gusts of up to 175 kmph, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported at 12H00 GMT.
Though weakened since Thursday, the storm still has the ability to cause "flash and urban flooding, along with mudslides in areas of higher terrain," the NHC said.
Hotel employees in Cabo San Lucas have urged guests to stay indoors until authorities give the all-clear, Gustavo Matamoros, a hotel worker, told AFP.
Local authorities say about 60,000 tourists are staying in the area, most of them international ones.
"Extraordinarily heavy rainfall" could cause flooding and landslides in the coastal states of Sinaloa and Nayarit, Mexico's National Meteorological Service said.
It predicted coastal swells of up to nine metres (30 feet).
Two people died last week when Hurricane Lidia struck the western states of Jalisco and Nayarit.
ALSO READ:
Germans celebrate New Year's Eve with a particularly intense usage of fireworks, which spurs a recurrent debate about outlawing the most powerful devices
world2 days ago
After the stroke of midnight, the Bulgarian and Romanian interior ministers symbolically raised a barrier on the Friendship Bridge straddling the Danube River
world2 days ago
At least 76 deaths were recorded in about 20 accidents last year, making it the deadliest year for migrants who are taking ever greater risks to evade Britain's border control
world2 days ago
The revolutionary song
world2 days ago
Riyadh's air bridge will be followed by another land bridge in the coming days, says KSrelief's top official Abdullah Al Rabeeah
world2 days ago
Reporters Without Borders ranked Syria second-last on its 2024 World Press Freedom Index, ahead only of Eritrea and behind Taliban-ruled Afghanistan
world2 days ago
The world welcomed the New Year with celebrations and festivities, while we witnessed 2025 begin with the first Israeli massacre in the town of Jabalia just after midnight, says Gaza official
world2 days ago
With time zones spanning the globe, 2025 arrived at different times in various countries, creating a staggered celebration around the world
world3 days ago