Powerful Hurricane John aims at Mexico's Baja

LOS CABOS, Mexico - Dangerous Hurricane John roared towards one of Mexico's most exclusive beach resorts today, forcing hundreds of foreign tourists to flee ahead of howling winds, angry seas and lashing rain.

Five-star hotels set up shelters for mostly US guests who abandoned plans to play golf on courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, swim or go boating at Los Cabos in Baja California.

John picked up power overnight to become a dangerous category 3 storm and was expected to smack the corner of the Baja peninsula to the west of Los Cabos with winds of 185 kph today.

Torrential rain fell for two hours and wind picked up as locals clutching blankets hurried along the street to refuges. Some 17,000 people were being evacuated from Los Cabos and the state capital La Paz.

Some vacationers hunkered down in their hotels.

Randy Hinton, 42, a frequent American visitor facing his fourth hurricane in Los Cabos, moored his new million-dollar yacht in the town marina for safety.

"If Mother Nature wants to take it then let her take it. I'm not going to die for it," said Hinton, a sports fisherman.

Poor shack-dwellers on the outskirts of the resort had it toughest. Soldiers evacuated some 175 people with flimsy homes in a riverbed to a school where food was scarce.

"If the water comes, my house is going to fall down," said Elizabeth Garcia, 24. "The water will take away everything."

Children in bare feet ran around playing while their parents sat uncomfortably in small school chairs.

Stores boarded up windows and municipal authorities banned the sale of alcohol.

Moving slowly
At 11 am EDT (4am NZT), the US National Hurricane Centre said John was 150 km southeast of Los Cabos and moving slowly northwest at 11 kph.

Rainfall of 15 to 25 cm, with isolated deluges of 45 cm, was possible over southern Baja California and along Mexico's west coast, it said.

After hitting land near the resort, John was expected to bounce back into the Pacific, posing no threat to the United States.

Residents and visitors alike lined up to buy food, water and petrol at the resort, made up of the towns of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo.

"There's a bit of panic," said a Red Cross official.

"We just went and stocked up on water and bought a couple of flashlights," said Matt Haskin, on vacation with his wife and 3-year-old son.

"This place is built like Fort Knox," he added, pointing to their luxury hotel.

Many vacationers took no chances and flew home, creating long lines at Los Cabos airport.

Last October, Hurricane Wilma hit Cancun and other beach resorts on Mexico's Caribbean coast. It caused heavy damage, eroding large stretches of beach and stranding tens of thousands of tourists for days.

On the US East Coast, the storm Ernesto was downgraded to a tropical depression as it crossed into Virginia and knocked out power services to 263,000 customers.

Ernesto was expected to bring heavy rain to Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

- REUTERS