Dangerous Hurricane John roared toward one of Mexico's most exclusive beach resorts today, forcing hundreds of foreign tourists to flee ahead of howling winds, angry seas and lashing rain.
Five-star hotels set up shelters for mostly US guests who abandoned plans to play golf on courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, swim or go boating at Los Cabos in Baja California.
John picked up power overnight to become a dangerous category 3 storm and was expected to smack the corner of the Baja peninsula to the west of Los Cabos with winds of 115 mph (185 kph) today afternoon.
Torrential rain fell for two hours and wind picked up as locals clutching blankets hurried along the street to refuges. Some 17,000 people were being evacuated from Los Cabos and the state capital La Paz.
Some vacationers hunkered down in their hotels.
Randy Hinton, 42, a frequent American visitor facing his fourth hurricane in Los Cabos, moored his new million-dollar yacht in the town marina for safety.
"If Mother Nature wants to take it then let her take it. I'm not going to die for it," said Hinton, a sports fisherman.
Poor shack-dwellers on the outskirts of the resort had it toughest. Soldiers evacuated some 175 people with flimsy homes in a riverbed to a school where food was scarce.
"If the water comes, my house is going to fall down," said Elizabeth Garcia, 24. "The water will take away everything."
Children in bare feet ran around playing while their parents sat uncomfortably in small school chairs.
Stores boarded up windows and municipal authorities banned the sale of alcohol.