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| Mexico's Norbert weakens to storm | |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| Hurricane Norbert which struck Mexico's western peninsula has weakened as it made a second landfall on the country's mainland, meteorologists said. | |
| Norbert, with 103 mph (165 km/h) winds, first struck near the city of La Paz in Baja California peninsula on Saturday, blowing down roofs and uprooting trees. | |
| Thousands of residents fled to shelters for safety. | |
| Norbert then crossed the Gulf of California, before making a second landfall on the north-west mainland. | |
| The US National Hurricane Center said Norbert was no longer classed as a hurricane and had been downgraded to a Category 1 tropical storm, with a wind speed of 60 mph. | |
| At 0900 GMT, the storm was 140 miles (225 km) south-west of Chihuahua, Mexico, and was moving in a north-east direction. | |
| "Norbert is expect to rapidly weaken to a depression later this morning and to dissipate as a tropical cyclone later today," the Miami-based center said. | |
| The government has discontinued issuing hurricane warnings along the coast. | |
| Nearly 3,000 people were evacuated to temporary shelters on Mexico's Pacific coast as the storm came ashore, bringing with it 13ft (four-metre) waves. | |
| Trees uprooted | |
| Baja California Sur's civil protection chief, Jose Gajon, said about 1,000 people were in shelters and more were expected. | Baja California Sur's civil protection chief, Jose Gajon, said about 1,000 people were in shelters and more were expected. |
| "If it is necessary, we will use authorities to take to shelters those who refuse to go," he added. | "If it is necessary, we will use authorities to take to shelters those who refuse to go," he added. |
| Rescue teams have already evacuated people from homes made from wooden boards and sheet metal in low-lying areas. | Rescue teams have already evacuated people from homes made from wooden boards and sheet metal in low-lying areas. |
| The wind uprooted palm trees and water rose knee-high in some streets of the town of Puerto San Carlos. | The wind uprooted palm trees and water rose knee-high in some streets of the town of Puerto San Carlos. |
| "We left our house because we were scared. Our house is pretty poor and the water was already coming in," said Maria Espinosa, 54, who arrived at a school with her daughter and two grandchildren. | "We left our house because we were scared. Our house is pretty poor and the water was already coming in," said Maria Espinosa, 54, who arrived at a school with her daughter and two grandchildren. |
| Norbert is not expected to strengthen significantly as it crosses the Gulf of California, the hurricane center said. | |
| It is forecast to weaken once it moves into north-western Mexico on a path towards Arizona. | It is forecast to weaken once it moves into north-western Mexico on a path towards Arizona. |
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