Los Cabos still recovering from Hurricane Odile

SAN JOSE DEL CABO, Mexico – Desperate locals and tourists were in survival mode in the resort area of Los Cabos on Wednesday, with electrical and water service still out three days after Hurricane Odile made landfall as a monster Category 3 storm.

Looters stripped supermarkets of their food and other products, with some people fighting over goods. At least one supermarket decided to give away its merchandise. People pushed shopping carts full of goods.

Mexico’s government continued to fly stranded tourists out of the area as the remnants of Odile drenched the northern state of Sonora and then moved into Arizona overnight.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said parts of Arizona and New Mexico could get 6 to 9 inches of rain and warned of possible flash flooding. The Tucson area was forecast to bear the brunt of the storm, but Phoenix could be lashed with rain and heavy winds, too.

To the south, newly formed Hurricane Polo was moving off Mexico’s Pacific coast in the general direction of Los Cabos, although early predictions were for the center to remain offshore.

President Enrique Pena Nieto’s office said the federal government was working closely with state authorities on relief efforts in the areas battered by Odile, including restoring water and electricity.

It said more than 239,000 people had their power knocked out by the storm, but predicted 95 percent of electrical service would be restored within four days.

A bridge on the highway between San Jose del Cabo and La Paz collapsed.

Some tourists drove their rental cars or hired cabs to head north to La Paz, the Baja California Sur state capital that was hit with less intensity. They hoped they might have a better chance of getting out through the city’s airport, but they found frustrated crowds, long waits and little information from authorities.

David Bergman, of California, said he and his family had been at the La Paz airport for two days.

“It’s nothing but lies. We’ve just been lied to,” Bergman said angrily. “There’s almost been rioting here two times. … we were caged like animals.”

Officials estimated that 30,000 travelers were stranded by the storm.