Norbert Arrives

Hang on everyone!!!

According to the National Hurricane Center Hurricane Norbert has sustained winds of 105 mph with higher gusts. Ciudadad Constitution, Ciudad Insurgentes and smaller towns of the Municipo of Comondu don't really need this after all the flooding associated with Tropical Storm Lowell last month.

The flat lands of the Magdelena Plain are prone to flooding. After this storm it will be several days before the highway between La Paz and Loreto is open. The power station at Puerto San Carlos is right in the path of this storm so their may not be electricity for a while.

I'll post more information as I get it.

The Baja Big Fish Company web page will have Loreto information as soon as the power and Internet come back on.

Although it is a little south of the storm path the Telmex web cam in La Paz might have some interesting images in the morning.

¡Cuidado Amigos!

Tropical Storm Lowell

Although it is dying fast over the relatively cool Pacific waters, Tropical Storm Lowell appears to be headed straight for Magdelena Bay. The region is just drying out from Tropical Storm Julio and could really use a break. Stay out of the arroyos for the next few days and be prepared!

More on Tropical Storm Julio

Although this is a fly fishing blog I am posting information on the damage caused by Tropical Storm Julio to keep Baja lovers informed what is happening to the great people who live here and to let anglers know that they should be prepared for tropical weather from late August to the middle of October.

The good news is that Loreto appears to be bouncing back quickly with little more than a few sunk pangas at the marina. The kids returned to school today and clean up has begun on the beaches. During storms like this one, every piece of trash in the arroyos gets washed out to sea. Much of it ends up on the beach. The muddy trash strewn water tends to shut down fishing for a few days until the water clears. After that the remaining trees and other debris floating around can hold a lot of dorado and the fishing can really turn on.

The bad news is Mulege, Ciudad Constitution, and Ciudad Insurgentes were hit hard. The river in Mulege flooded badly with water levels approaching the flood following Hurricane John in 2006. El Sud Californiano reports that 120 Mexican and 200 foreigners homes were damaged by the flooding.

This picture of the river in Mulege was on the front page of today's El Sud Californiano.

Ciudad Insurgentes was flooded badly and according to the paper over 500 families lost their homes with widespread damage as you can see in the photo from the Sud Californiano below.

Puerto Lopez Mateos and San Juanico are inaccessible by road and I assume that many other of the more remote areas may be inaccessible for a while.

Tropical Storm Julio's Aftermath

This photo from El Sud Californiano shows fishermen from Lopez Mateos using their boat to rescue flood victims in Ciudad Insugentes.

It looks like TS Julio followed the path predicted by the National Weather Service. Early reports from El Sud Californiano indicate that there was no major wind damage and most of the heavy rains and flooding was in the municipio of Comondú. From the photos in the paper it appears that there is serious flooding in Ciudad Insurgentes and Ciudad Constitución.

The arroyo in Mulege flooded badly again damaging many houses along the "river" and a soldier was killed there when his Hummer was swept away while crossing an arroyo. The Sud Californiano reports that there are 39 interuptions to the highway between Cuidad Consitution and Santa Rosalia - I'm not sure what that means but the road is likely impassable at least until the arroyos stop running.