Hurricane Jimena Tracks Closer to Baja

Aug. 31, 2009— -- Hurricane Jimena tracked slowly closer to Mexico's Baja peninsula late today, including the popular resort city of Cabo San Lucas, where tourists and local residents are stocking up on food, water and fuel.

The Mexican government had already issued a hurricane warning for the southern part of Baja, which means that hurricane conditions are expected in the area within 24 hours.

According to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, the storm now has sustained winds of 155 mph.

It is "almost a Category 5 hurricane," the highest rung on the Saffir-Simpson scale, said the hurricane center's late advisory.

Given the ominous forecast, at least 10,000 families will be evacuated from potential flood zones, Francisco Cota, the local director of Civil Protection, told The Associated Press. Because of the weather, organizers have also decided to move an international economic conference out of the storm's path, from Los Cabos to Mexico City.

At 5 p.m.. ET Monday, the eye of the hurricane was 305 miles south of Cabo San Lucas, and was moving northwest at about 10 mph. Hurricane force winds extend 45 miles outward from the storm's eye.

The hurricane center uses a dozen different computer models to forecast the path of a storm, combining them to create the forecast map it then makes public. The models show the storm approaching the southern Baja peninsula, which includes the Los Cabos region, on Tuesday.

"People are calm, but they are prepared," Thierry Baurez, director of sales for Casa Dorada Los Cabos, an upscale beach resort in Cabo San Lucas, told ABCNEWS.com by telephone. "Since last Saturday we saw lots of people at the supermarket buying tuna and water and crackers."

Expecting the storm to bring heavy rain and winds, peaking at 4 p.m. local time Tuesday, the resort is closing all open areas, including outdoor restaurants and lounges, Baurez said.

A local television crew interviewed a Los Cabos resident at a gas station. "We're trying to think ahead and fill up the tank because the hurricane that's coming, which has us sort of worried because they're saying it's a category 4."

Jimena is expected to dump about five to 10 inches of rain over the region during the next two days, with some areas receiving as much as 15 inches. The area is also expected to experience significant coastal flooding.

Although it said earlier that it would not change plans because of the hurricane, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Monday it would move a conference scheduled this week from Los Cabos to Mexico City. Officials from dozens of countries are expected to meet this Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss tax havens, and many of the OECD delegates have already arrived in Los Cabos.

In June, Hurricane Andres, a Category 1 storm, battered the southern Pacific coast, flooding Acapulco and pulling a fisherman out to sea.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.