MEXICO CITY (AP) — Hurricane Kay weakened slightly in the Pacific Wednesday as it lashed Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, where authorities opened shelters and closed some roads.
Forecasters said there is a chance the storm’s outer bands could bring heavy rain and flash flooding to parts of southern California and southwestern Arizona on Friday night and Saturday.
Kay’s maximum sustained winds were at 100 miles per hour (155 kilometers per hour), and forecasters said it could brush mid-Baja California on Thursday or Friday.
Kay was located about 205 miles (335 kilometers) west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, the US National Hurricane Center reported. It is moving in a north-northwest direction at 20 km/h (13 mph).
A hurricane watch was issued for a sparsely populated swath of the peninsula around the town of Bahía Asunción, and the Baja California Sur state government announced it was opening shelters for people needing to evacuate their homes. He said some streams were already rising and some roads were closed.
Forecasters expect Kay to remain out to sea as it moves north parallel to the coast. It was an expanding storm, with tropical storm force winds extending up to 230 miles (370 kilometers) from the center.
Heavy rains continued Wednesday in Los Cabos, on the southern tip of the peninsula. Mayor Óscar Leggs Castro said there were already more than 800 people in shelters in the tourist destinations of Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo.
There were long lines of cars at gas stations. Non-essential businesses closed their doors and some airlines canceled flights.
Some landslides had blocked the passage on some roads on the peninsula, but there were no reports of injuries.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Earl was moving across the Atlantic on Wednesday and was forecast to pass southeast of Bermuda on Thursday night as a Category 3 storm.
The island’s Homeland Security Minister, Michael Weeks, told reporters that public services and government offices would continue to operate, but asked residents to prepare for tropical storm conditions.
“Bermuda will definitely feel the effects of Earl, so we need to avoid overconfidence,” he said.
Earl was located about 650 kilometers (405 miles) south of Bermuda on Wednesday afternoon. It had maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (140 km/h) and was moving north at 8 mph (13 km/h).
Further out, Hurricane Danielle was located offshore, about 1,010 kilometers (625 miles) northwest of the Azores islands. It had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 km/h).