Hurricane Marty hits Mexico's Baja Calif.
About the article
This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from September 2003.
Brought to you by
The category 2 hurricane was expected to weaken slightly as it traveled over land. Forecasters said it could regain strength, however, when it reached the Gulf of California later in the day. Airports remained closed in the region.
Epigmeo Lopez, 52, a resident of Cabo San Lucas, was killed early Monday when Marty's high winds ripped the roof off his humble cardboard and wood shack, state police officer Francisco Solis said. Lopez, who had moved to the region in search of work, was living in a makeshift home and sleeping in a hammock when the storm hit. It blew off his roof, carrying him and the hammock with it.
A number of minor injuries were reported and hundreds of people were evacuated to shelters in Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo, both cities in Los Cabos, a resort region known for its golf courses, deep-sea fishing and dramatic seaside desert landscapes.
Some sections of both cities were without water and electricity, forcing hotels to rely on candles and generators. Most hotels and businesses seemed to have escaped major damage, however. "This one wasn't that big of a deal," Dennis Wolf, manager of the Hacienda Beach Resort in Cabo San Lucas, said in a telephone interview. "When the eye came over, it only lasted about an hour and a half. ... It's pretty much out of here."
People who had barely finished cleaning up after last month's Hurricane Ignacio resumed the process Monday.
