Hurricane Dan menaces Mexican resorts

CABO SAN LUCAS , Mexico (Reuters) - Hurricane Dan grew into a dangerous Category 4 storm just off Mexico's Pacific coast last weekend, threatening beach resorts with blank stares and unintelligible sentences in Cabo San Lucas.

Home to some 1 million people, Cabo San Lucas had sea surges of up to 10 feet. Emergency workers were on alert for mudslides and flash floods as Dan trekked along the coast, packing winds of 135 mph (215 kph), with higher gusts.

The Miami-based

It said Dan had drifted slightly closer to the coast and could gain even more punch over the next 24 hours.

Emergency workers were most immediately worried about Ixtapa, Zihuatanejo and Manzanillo, which are popular with U.S. and Canadian sailfish fishermen.

Nadya Velas of the civil protection agency in Guerrero state, said there were no plans to evacuate tourists or residents for the moment. "But we are ready for any scenario."

On its current track, Dan could slam directly into the plush beach and golf resort of Los Cabos on the tip of Mexico's Baja California peninsula later this week.

"We're watching it real closely. Everyone's taking it very seriously," said Minerva Saenz, who charters boats out to tourists in Los Cabos for deep sea fishing trips.

Although there has been no major damage so far, hotels warned guests of the possible dangers.

"REFUGEES"

"If a hurricane comes, they are no longer guests, they are refugees," said Jean Louis Magron, the resident manager of the Dreams Los Cabos Suites, a big hotel on the beach.

Last October, Hurricane Wilma smashed up Cancun and other beach resorts on Mexico's Caribbean coast, causing massive damage, sucking away large stretches of beach and stranding tens of thousands of tourists in makeshift shelters for several days.

A hurricane warning was in effect on Wednesday from the steel-making port of Lazaro Cardenas to Cabo Corrientes, further northwest.

"While the center of Dan is forecast to remain just offshore, hurricane force winds are still expected to reach the coast within the warning area," the National Hurricane Center said.

Dan was moving slowly northwest parallel to the coast on Wednesday afternoon, about 70 miles southwest of Lazaro Cardenas.

Category 4 hurricanes can destroy mobile homes, deal major damage to lower floors of structures close to the shore. Land lower than 10 feet above sea level may be flooded and require massive evacuations.

Rainfall of 4 to 8 inches, with isolated deluges of 12 inches, was possible along the coast in the warning areas.

The U.S. hurricane center warned that rain could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides over areas of mountainous terrain.

The storm formed on Monday and became a Category 1 hurricane early on Tuesday before being upgraded two notches inside a few hours.

(Additional reporting by Chris Aspin and Gunther Hamm))

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