Hurricane Odile loses some strength, menaces Mexico's Baja

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Hurricane Odile sped toward Mexico's southern Baja peninsula as a dangerous storm and locals rushed to prepare ahead of a possible hit to the luxury resorts of Los Cabos later on Sunday. Odile lost some strength on Sunday afternoon and become a Category 3 hurricane as it churned 140 miles (225 km) off the southern tip of Baja, moving northwest at a brisk 15 miles per hour (24 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. The Miami-based center warned that the storm could strengthen and become a Category 4 hurricane again by the time it hits or passes near the southern tip of Baja late Sunday. In Cabo San Lucas, people rushed to board up windows, clear beach furniture and remove fishing boats and yachts from the water into dry docks ahead of the storm's approach. "If it doesn't lose intensity, this is going to do some damage," said Rosalio Salas, 59, who works at Picante sport fishing charters in Cabo San Lucas. "The people that live here are used to this, but the people here for the first time are a little scared," he said. The storm packed winds of up to 125 miles per hour (205 kph) and Odile was projected to lash southern Baja with strong winds and dump heavy rains into Monday, the hurricane center said. Restaurants and businesses in Cabo San Lucas closed ahead of the storm, leaving tourists stuck in hotel rooms and lobbies. Francesco Francavigilia, 36, a tourist from Rome on his first visit to Los Cabos, had to suspend his vacation of sunbathing and swimming to watch movies on his tablet computer. Even though it was his first hurricane, he said, he was not afraid. "The people from here are not worried, so why should I worry?" Francavigilia said. While other beaches in Mexico are packed with tourists during the long weekend to Tuesday's Independence Day holiday, the resorts of Los Cabos are mostly visited by Americans and are in their low season. The Mexican government declared a hurricane warning for southern Baja and a tropical storm warning for parts of the Pacific coast. Luis Puente, the head of Mexico's civil protection agency, said in a news conference that 164 shelters had been readied with a capacity for 30,000 people. Electricity would be shut off in the area as the storm hit to avoid damages from downed power lines, he said. (Reporting by Michael O'Boyle and Tomas Sarmiento; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)