Norbert weakens to tropical storm over Mexico

PUERTO SAN CARLOS, Mexico

Sunday, 12 October 2008 14:07:35

By KIRSTEN JOHNSON - Associated Press Writer

Norbert weakened Sunday into a tropical storm as it pushed its way over Mexico's mainland toward western Texas, after ripping off roofs and forcing thousands to seek shelter in Baja California.

Norbert roared into mainland Mexico's northwestern coast early Sunday as a Category 1 hurricane with winds near 85 mph (140 kph) after crossing the Baja California peninsula on Saturday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Forecasters said Norbert is rapidly weakening as it moves inland and is now a tropical storm with winds near 40 mph (65 kph). It should soon become a tropical depression, they said.

The storm's remnants are expected to reach New Mexico and waterlogged western Texas Sunday afternoon. State and local officials in Texas plan to activate an emergency operations center Monday in Presidio, where an earthen levee is struggling to hold back the swollen Rio Grande.

The hurricane center said the storm could dump up to 6 inches of rain over northwestern Mexico _ possibly producing flash floods or mudslides _ and up to 2 inches over the portions of the U.S. southern high plains.

At 8 a.m. Sunday, Norbert's center was located about 70 miles (110 kilometers) west-southwest of Chihuahua and was moving northeast near 21 mph (34 kph).

The storm first hit land Saturday near Puerto Charley on Baja's southwest coast as a Category 2 hurricane, but weakened to Category 1 after emerging over the Gulf of California en route to the mainland, the center said.

Baja residents fled to shelters in school buses and army trucks as floodwaters rose in their homes. Winds uprooted palm trees and the water rose knee-high in some streets of the town of Puerto San Carlos.

"We left our house because we were scared. Our house is pretty poor and the water was already coming in," said Maria Espinosa, 54, who arrived at a high school with her daughter and two grandchildren. They joined about 60 other people sitting on foam mattresses and blankets.

Streets turned into rushing, knee-deep rivers in Ciudad Constitucion, on the southern peninsula. Furniture, car parts and trash cans floated down the roads that were deserted except for a few police patrols and a soaked dog on high ground.

More than 2,000 people were in the city's shelters, many of them from coastal villages where nearly all homes had lost their roofs, said Miguel Arevalos, the local Civil Protection director.

"We came here because our roof is gone, the wind ripped it off," said Luis Mesa, 39, taking shelter at an elementary school after fleeing his village of Pueblo Nuevo. "They said on the radio it was going to get really ugly."

On mainland Mexico, authorities evacuated people from low-lying areas in Sonora state and opened 60 shelters capable of holding more than 6,000 people, said Willebaldo Alatriste, the state's civil protection director.

Meanwhile, a weakening Tropical Storm Odile hugged the southwest coast of Mexico.

Civil Protection officials in Guerrero state urged about 10,000 people living along river banks or other dangerous areas to evacuate.

Mudslides and fallen trees blocked roads, and 150 homes were under 13 feet (4 meters) of water in El Paraiso, a small town north of Acapulco, officials said.

Odile's estimated center was located about 45 miles (70 kilometers) west of Manzanillo and was moving north-northwest near 12 mph (19 kph). It carried sustained winds of about 40 mph (65 kph).