Evacuees were met by the Sinaloa Secretaryo of Tourism as well the U.S. Consular Agent in Mazatlán.
A 10:40 am yesterday Mazatlán’s Rafael Buelna airport received 147 passengers fleeing Los Cabos, La Paz, and the ravages of Hurricane Odile. The arriving passengers consisted of 79 men, 58 women, and six children, most of whom were Americans. Eight hours later a Federal Police helicopter landed at the airport with 23 mores evacuees.
The evacuees were met by state and local officials, as well as Luis Ramírez, the U.S. Consular Agent in Mazatlán.
Francisco Cordova Celaya, Secretary of Tourism for the state, said they were anticipating as many as 700 evacuees and civil defense and military personnel were at the airport to assist the arriving tourists and workers. Local hotels made rooms available at a discounted price of $40 for the night, while the convention center was preparing to take up to 500 people.
Later during the day Francisco Cordova Celaya said that Alaska airlines would be taking a large group to Los Angeles on its daily flight from Mazatlán. It was reported that 87 evacuees made that flight.
A few people decided to stay in Mazatlán, while others flew south to Puerto Vallarta to catch a flight today to Canada. 58 nationals headed to Hermosillo, 3 to Culiacán and 49 departed for México City.
Luis Ramirez noted the new tropical storm Pollo and said, “We have basically three days to evacuate Americans from Los Cabos and then prepare for the arrival of “Pollo.”
(from Noroeste)
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