Less serious than “Hurricane Warning” but still worrisome enough. I woke at 2am to rain beating on the roof of my rented house in northern Baja California, visions of flooding in the town of Santa Rosalia—halfway down the Baja Peninsula—swirling in my head. I’ve stayed twice in that place en route to Cabo San Lucas for a holiday with my sister. One descends denuded mountains, past mining works, to the beautiful Sea of Cortes. A ferry service used to run from Santa Rosalia to mainland Mexico.
Next vision: One meteorologist (I am following many!) mentioned sea surge—possible 40-foot waves. Could this house be inundated!? We could (how quickly!?) move to the smaller house above that my son is renting. What of my neighbors below with their two young girls? I send an email inviting them up should they be concerned.
I should try to sleep, but instead interact with some folks on Twitter/X…perfect strangers expressing concern, sending me best wishes, prayers. Hmm…the rain has stopped…oh good, the water can soak in.
But how much can this sandy hillside hold? What of that house on stilts above us? I think of the song I sang in Sunday School “The foolish man built his house upon the sand…”
I get up at 6am and make a pot of tea. No rain…even a little blue sky out to the west…out where the US naval ships usually docked in Southern California have gone to wait out the storm. But as I finish this, the rain is again heavy, steaming the windows. Latest report says the storm center, at 5 am, was 100 miles south of here, moving at 17 mph. I continue my watch.
