After Lidia Deluge, Los Cabos Quickly Returns to Normal

Image: PHOTO: A storm gathers over Los Cabos. (photo via Flickr/Ana Rodriguez Carrington)
Image: PHOTO: A storm gathers over Los Cabos. (photo via Flickr/Ana Rodriguez Carrington)
Monica Poling
by Monica Poling
Last updated: 3:15 PM ET, Sun September 3, 2017

At least six people died after Tropical Storm Lidia cut a wide path through western Mexico late last week.

The tropical storm, which made landfall west of the city of La Paz-the capital of Baja California Sur (BCS)-on Friday, dumped 27 inches of rain in the region within a 24-hour period.

"This is the largest amount of water we have had since 1933," said BCS Governor Carlos Mendoza.

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Among the hardest hit areas was Los Cabos, located in the southern part of the state. A graphic by the National Hurricane Center shows the eye of the storm hovering directly over the popular visitor destination.

The storm caused some headaches for tourists as nearly 20,000 were stranded after airlines briefly suspended service to the area, according to the state's tourism secretary, Luis Genaro Ruiz.

Among the stranded was Canadian woman Casandra Mehok of Edmonton, Alberta, who told Canada's CBC News that some 30 guests at her hotel crowded into one upper-level hotel room for nearly 24 hours without any food, drink or electricity.

But things have also rapidly returned to normal.

In a statement to TravelPulse, Eduardo Regules, the Commercial Director for the Los Cabos CVB stressed the tourism infrastructure is fully operational and urged visitors not to change their travel plans to the region.

"Most of the hotels are operating normally," he said. "Although there are some areas where cleaning crews are hard at work, all roads between the airport and hotel zone are fully accessible. The airport is also operating normally and some airlines have even added flights over the weekend in order to add capacity for affected visitors. "

Lidia, which has since veered off the west coast into the Pacific Ocean, pounded much of Mexico with heavy rainfall earlier in the week. Flooding was reported as far inland as Mexico City, where the country's busiest airport shut down for nearly four hours on Thursday afternoon due to "safety concerns and weather conditions."

#AICMinforma Por seguridad y debido a las condiciones meteorológicas, se suspenden temporalmente operaciones de aterrizaje y despegue.

- AICM (@AICM_mx) August 31, 2017

Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto traveled to Los Cabos early Saturday morning to assess the damage and to meet with victims displaced by Lidia.

At a press conference, he noted that the storm dumped the equivalent of nearly three times the annual average rainfall over the course of one day and that about a thousand people remain in area shelters. He also noted that the residents most affected by Lidia were people who live in "irregular" or "high-risk" places like those inhabiting dwellings along the area's natural riverbeds. Among the fatalities were two people electrocuted by power lines and two people, including an infant, who were swept away by flood waters.

Further, he said that federal, state and local governments are working together in a coordinated effort assess the damage and put a recovery plan into place.

The president promised quick turn around on recovery and that damaged areas will be restored "within a period of no more than one month."

He also assured travelers that the tourism infrastructure sustained no damage.


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