Hurricane Odile has whipped through the beach resorts of Mexico's Baja California peninsula, causing chaos as it uprooted trees, downed power lines and smashed shop windows, sparking looting.
Fierce winds hit homes, hotels and businesses as one of the worst storms ever to hit the luxury retreats of Los Cabos battered Mexico's northwest coast with heavy rains.
Odile has weakened from a category four to category one hurricane since Sunday, but the US National Hurricane Center said it would likely cause life-threatening flooding and mudslides on the northwestern coast in the next day or two.
Odile, which was blowing sustained winds of 145km/h, knocked out San Jose del Cabo's international airport, but authorities say flights may restart later today.
"The whole place is devastated, San Jos del Cabo, windows are trashed, trees and electricity poles are down," said Mauricio Balderrama, manager of the Cabo Surf Hotel and Spa. All of the hotel's guests were unharmed, he added.
There were no initial reports of fatalities from Odile, which tore down water tanks, air conditioning units and smashed shop fronts across Cabo San Lucas, which sparked looting.
By this evening, Odile was about 105 km south of Loreto, on the east coast of the peninsula, and moving northwest at about 21km/h, the NHC said.
Pharmacies, electronics shops and convenience stores were among businesses hit by looters before police restored order on streets strewn with shattered glass from broken windows, a local shop worker said.
Tourists in shelters or hiding in bathtubs in their rooms posted photos overnight on social media showing windows barricaded with furniture after they were blown out.
Some people reported flooding at hotels when dawn broke.
At least 26,000 foreign tourists and 4,000 Mexicans were estimated to be in the region, officials said. Thousands of people were evacuated from areas at risk of flooding.
The NHC said Odile was expected to slow as it pushed northwest along the desert peninsula and forecast the storm would weaken steadily over the next two days.
Some experts said it was the strongest hurricane to hit the tip of the peninsula since the advent of satellite data.
Ahead of the storm's approach, people in Cabo San Lucas rushed to board up windows, clear beach furniture and remove fishing boats and yachts from the water and into dry docks.
Many beaches in Mexico were packed with tourists during the weekend ahead of Tuesday's Independence Day holiday, but the resorts of Los Cabos are in low season and are mostly visited by American tourists.
