Hurricane ‘Polo’ Leaves No Fatalities in Baja California Sur; to Hit Guaymas, Sonora This Morning
This article by Arturo Sánchez Jiménez and Alonso Urrutia originally appeared in the September 29, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left-wing daily newspaper.
Mexico City. With no fatalities reported in Baja California Sur, where it made landfall at midnight yesterday as a category 2 storm, Hurricane Polo was moving this morning toward the coast of Sonora, where it is expected to hit as a category 1 storm near Guaymas, prompting President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo to call on the population of that port and its surrounding areas to take shelter this Tuesday. “Even though it’s category 1, it’s important to take shelter,” she stressed at her morning press conference in the National Palace.
Meanwhile, tropical storm Rachel continued moving parallel to national territory and headed further into the Pacific Ocean; it was located 430 kilometers from Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, reported national Civil Protection coordinator Laura Velázquez Alzúa.
Speaking via a remote video link, the official explained that Polo made landfall at midnight near the town of Las Barrancas, in the municipality of Comondú. Citing 6 a.m. data from the National Meteorological Service (SMN), she said the center of the storm was located 105 kilometers from Loreto and 145 kilometers from Guaymas, with maximum winds of 120 kilometers per hour.
Velázquez Alzúa said she remains in constant communication with the Sonora state government, which has carried out preventive measures and informed the population about the storm’s expected impact, forecast between 8 and 9 a.m.
Regarding damage in Baja California Sur, she said the hurricane only caused sidewalk-level street flooding, runoff, standing water, and fallen trees and branches — damage that would be addressed that same Tuesday. She said Comondú, Mulegé, and Loreto still have electricity and water service.
She said 6,700 people who had stayed in temporary shelters would begin returning home that day, and that 6,827 public servants from the three levels of government took part in the response, backed by the DN-III and Marina emergency plans. She announced she would tour the area with the governor to assess damage.
For his part, Baja California Sur Governor Víctor Manuel Castro Cosío addressed the storm’s toll on the state.
The hurricane’s passage through Baja California Sur has left us with rain, but no loss of life, which is the most important thing.
Víctor Manuel Castro Cosío, Governor of Baja California Sur
“We’ll assess material damage today,” he said, thanking the population for following the authorities’ instructions.
Sheinbaum Pardo thanked the residents of Baja California Sur for responding “in an extraordinary way” to the call to protect themselves.
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