Hurricane Polo Threatens 30 Million With Flash Floods as 2 Inches-an-Hour Rain Spreads Inland
Updated
Updated · CBS New York · Sep 29
Hurricane Polo Threatens 30 Million With Flash Floods as 2 Inches-an-Hour Rain Spreads Inland
3 articles · Updated · CBS New York · Sep 29
Summary
More than 30 million people from Arizona to Iowa face flash flood risk as Polo moves across Mexico toward the U.S. Southwest, with flood watches stretching from Phoenix to Des Moines.
2 inches of rain per hour could fall in some areas, and more than 14 million Americans are in a major-flooding zone as the storm’s moisture pushes from the Four Corners into the Central Plains.
Southern New Mexico has already seen flooded roads trap drivers, while Albuquerque is forecast to get about 2 inches of rain and parts of Texas could receive more than 7 inches through Thursday.
Polo is tracking northeast across Baja California Sur at about 10 mph, expected to cross the Gulf of California, make a second landfall in Sonora, and weaken to roughly 35 mph near El Paso on Wednesday.
The storm had surged from 45 mph to 150 mph in 24 hours last week and peaked at 180 mph, underscoring an unusually active Eastern Pacific season fueled by warm waters, moist air and low wind shear.