Lidia strikes Baja

A weakening Tropical Storm Lidia marched up Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula on Saturday after flooding streets and homes in resort cities, stranding tourists and leaving at least four people dead.

Lidia’s maximum sustained winds dropped to 40 mph, just above the minimum threshold for a tropical storm, as its center passed over a sparsely populated area of the peninsula that is home to a large nature reserve and back out over Pacific waters. It was forecast to lose more strength over the course of the day.

Authorities have said the death toll could rise over the weekend as emergency crews surveyed the damage in villages with ramshackle homes.

The mayor of the twin resorts of Los Cabos, Arturo de la Rosa Escalante, said Friday that two people were electrocuted by power lines, a woman drowned after being swept away by water on a flooded street and a baby was ripped from its mother’s arms as she crossed a flooded area.

State Tourism Secretary Luis Genero Ruiz said about 20,000 foreign tourists were stranded after airlines suspended flights to the area.

Far out over the Atlantic, meanwhile, Hurricane Irma was following a course that could bring it near the eastern Caribbean Sea this week. It had maximum sustained winds near 110 mph and was moving west at 15 mph.

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