SAN JOSE DEL CABO, Mexico — Desperate locals and tourists were in survival mode in the resort area of Los Cabos on Wednesday, with electrical and water service still out three days after Hurricane Odile made landfall as a monster Category 3 storm.
Looters stripped supermarkets of their food and other products, with some people fighting over goods. At least one supermarket decided to give away its merchandise. People pushed shopping carts full of goods.
Mexico’s government continued to fly stranded tourists out of the area as the remnants of Odile drenched the northern state of Sonora and headed on a path forecast to take the rain into Arizona overnight.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said parts of Arizona and New Mexico could get 6 to 9 inches of rain and warned of possible flash flooding. The Tucson area was forecast to bear the brunt of the storm, but Phoenix could be lashed with rain and heavy winds, too.
To the south, a new tropical storm was nearing hurricane strength off Mexico’s Pacific coast and headed in the general direction of Los Cabos, although early predictions were for the center to remain offshore.
President Enrique Pena Nieto’s office said the federal government was working closely with state authorities on relief efforts in the areas battered by Odile, including restoring water and electricity.
It said more than 239,000 people had their power knocked out by the storm, but predicted 95 percent of electrical service would be restored within four days.
A bridge on the highway between San Jose del Cabo and La Paz collapsed.
In Los Cabos, people helped themselves to food, water, soda and toilet paper at supermarkets and convenience stores. The highway was at times clogged by pickup trucks parked in front of stores as their drivers loaded up appliances, mattresses or patio furniture.
One market decided to give away its wares. Hundreds of people lined up to get inside for five minutes at a time and take what they could as store employees with machetes, baseball bats and air rifles tried to keep things orderly.
Natascha Ramsey, a homemaker from San Diego, sat outside the store. She came on vacation and was concerned about her child, who woke up Wednesday with a rash. She was running out of supplies.
“I just need to worry about getting food for her,” Ramsey told The Associated Press. “We’ll be fine, but I need formula, diapers, wipes, stuff to keep the child healthy.”
When AP reporters returned later, the store had been emptied.
Long lines formed at tortilla shops and at stores selling ice as people tried to feed themselves and keep what food they had from going bad in the sweltering heat.
Lines also snaked from the couple of gas stations still working. Customers were each limited to $11 worth of fuel, about 3 gallons.
