Hurricane John (28 August - 5 September, 2006)

I watched as Hurricane John intensified to a category 4 and continued up the western coast of mainland Mexico. The predicted track would bring it on or near the tip of Baja California then westward into open ocean where it would do no further harm. Land’s End was preparing for a hurricane and this received a lot of media attention including lead story on msnbc.com. By the end of Wednesday, I realized that we had something potentially dangerous to deal with up here in Loreto.

Positions of Hurricane John from 28 august to 5 September, 2006.
Coordinates and local times are based on MDT as storm passed Loreto. Loreto is positioned at 26.0 N 111.0 W

Hurricanes are predictable in textbook conditions but textbook conditions rarely exist in real life. The surface temperatures of the Sea of Cortez had been climbing since Tropical Storm Emilia cooled them down about a month prior and an equilibrium needed to be established. Only one computer model (UKMET) early on seemed to take this fact into consideration as well as the atmospheric pressure effects which the other models seemed to rely entirely on. Hurricanes themselves are a heat transfer mechanism for our planet and heat is their reason to be.

John took the path of least resistance while being fueled off the extremely warm waters of the Sea of Cortez. He was guided along eastern side of the high mountains that create the backbone of this thousand mile long peninsula; hence the coastal towns and villages between the mountains and the sea in his path were completely vulnerable.

The major towns along the eastern coast of the southern Baja peninsula lie within arroyos and near beaches. These towns, that are centered around Missions were established over the past 300 years as the peninsula was originally a religious settlement. These Jesuit Missions were spaced a day’s mule ride apart in extremely rugged terrain and became the center of commerce for Loreto, Mulege, Santa Rosalia and La Paz. Smaller villages along the coastline were established as commercial fishing villages. The towns and villages and other settlements along our coast are situated in the only flat areas available between the major interruptions of the Sierra de la Giganta mountain range which literally plunges into the Sea of Cortez on the peninsula’s eastern side.

The terrain of the eastern southern Baja coastline is desert and rugged mountain. When heavy rains fall there is not much to keep them from running off into the sea. Since water seeks its own level, and our area had received less than one inch in 24 months before the storm, the rains formed raging rivers which flowed to sealevel. There was little resistance as there is only sparse vegetation and the ground was hard-packed before this storm; unable to soak up much of the water that it received.

Hurricane John passed over the bay of La Paz and then made landfall again north of the bay of La Paz in a sparsely populated area. John continued to feed off the very warm waters of the Sea of Cortez and was guided by the 1,000 meter mountain range to our West. The eye of the storm passed within 30 miles West of Loreto, by then it was downgraded to Tropical Storm status. Tropical Storms generally produce less wind but more precipitation than hurricanes. Sustained winds at Loreto were measured at over 60 mph and gusts were measured at 100 mph at the peak of this storm. The precipitation lasted for 26 hours as it started at 2:30 A.M. on Saturday 2 September and ended at 4:30 A.M. on Sunday 3 September and was officially measured at 244.6 mm according to the meteorological center in town. TS John continued to move at only 8 mph as it headed towards Mulege (80 miles north of Loreto).

As early as 5:00 A.M. Loreto time on Saturday 2 Sept., Loretanos living in makeshift homes along arroyos and low lying areas were forcibly evacuated. I watched throughout Saturday as residents of Colonia Miramar which is on the West side of Highway 1 were evacuated below where we live (we are up on a hill). Anything that resembled a creek bed no matter how small and insignificant turned into a raging river.

A small tributary to a larger arroyo that swelled faster and higher than when Hurricane Juliette hit in 2001. The makeshift home on the East side of it was evacuated at 5:00 A.M. by police. Many residents like this have built their homes in and near arroyos as it is some of the only available land within walking distance to the center of town. Just a little over one year later there are more homes than ever inside arroyos in Colonia Miramar.

The following day the rains stopped and the cloud cover gave way so that we could assess the damage. The arroyo south of Loreto turned into a river (Arroyo Zaragoza). The torrential downpour from the mountains turned into a wall of water moving in the direction of town and that dangerous event washed a semi truck off the highway at its crossing and also destroyed the road. In town where this arroyo crosses, a man working a grader or a backhoe was swept away in the torrent and washed out to sea. The machine was buried to within two feet of its top which is why I wasn't sure what kind of equipment it was. One car that I could see was swept off the highway at Miramar where a small arroyo crosses the highway. The roads North to Mulege were impassable as they were to our south by landslides and flowing arroyos that blocked the road. Loreto was cut off and as of 6 Sept, food was running out at all of the local markets. Water was shut off in town for over a week. Considering what could have taken place, Loretanos got off easily with little damage.

The arroyo south of Loreto overflowed destroying Highway 1.


As a wall of water rushed through the highway a passing semi was caught in its current and washed off the road. The driver of this truck survived. This stretch of road, which has always washed out, is now spanned by a bridge.


Pangueros who had no time or trailers put their boats as far as they could off the launchramp, probably towed by their cars, and hoped for the best.


This was the situation inside the marina the day after the storm. The marina Loreto was built at the termination of a former arroyo and mother nature still thinks its one.


The pass at Mirador Frida was blocked by landslides that were cleared when I investigated on Monday September 4 this photo looks South at the top of the pass. These boulders were removed several days later.

The storm’s track brought it east of Mulege along the sea side of the Sierra de la Giganta mountains. It continued its painfully slow course dumping heavy rains on desert mountains that had been dry for over two years. The water ran off as quickly as it fell and collected in the arroyos and then through canyons that have been formed over millions of years. The central collection spot of the northern area of Mulege is the Mulege river which runs through the center of town. As quickly as the wall of water engulfed the semi truck and the road equipment in Loreto a day earlier, a great wall of water engulfed the low lying areas of Mulege. According to local residents who had the ability to communicate, Mulege was devastated. The river Mulege rose so quickly that residents living along its banks barely had time to put on their clothes and shoes and swim for their lives. Most of the town of Mulege was under water for several hours. Electricity, water, telephones were all out in Mulege for weeks. A few residents that had generators and satellite phones or Internet were the ones who put out the word on the desperate situation there. With the ability to communicate these residents were able to get help for Mulege's citizenry. The folks came together and they're rebuilding the town. The scale of the devistation can still be seen from the high bridge that passes over the river. We will think of those images of the water flowing less than a foot underneath it, every time we cross.

4 September, 2006 (late afternoon) The Mulege River at flood stage taken at the bridge over Hwy 1.

As this area grows and construction both private and public take place, we must always consider the power of "mother nature" and the historic fury which she has taken here. Keep in mind the vital essentials, safe protection from the elements, water, & food. Water storage, food storage, back up power supply, communications, shelter are all that will be important before, during and after a storm. As citizens we will have to insist on the integrity of roads, bridges and public buildings.