Hurricane John downgraded after whipping Mexico

LA PAZ, Mexico - Hurricane John was downgraded to a tropical storm today after blasting the tourist port city of La Paz with wicked winds and torrential rain that knocked out power and flooded streets but caused no deaths.

John flattened trees and electric power poles and sent advertising signs flying overnight in La Paz, popular with tourists and the capital of Baja California Sur state.

As the weakening storm crept up Mexico's Baja California peninsula, rains eased and electricity was restored in much of the city of 200,000 people. But main streets were flooded with ankle-deep water and the La Paz airport remained closed.

Farther south, the seaside resort of Los Cabos was also flooded and roads out were impassable as muddy rainwater and debris from surrounding hills poured down unpaved streets.

"There was a lot of rain. The windows were shaking pretty good," said Jeff Passama, 27, from San Francisco, who had driven north to La Paz from Los Cabos to try to escape the storm.

"Now we have to figure out how to get out of here," he said, as many people abandoned their sport utility vehicles after getting stuck in slushy sand.

After John felled up to 40 power poles in La Paz, authorities cut off the electricity supply to prevent downed wires from electrocuting people, rescue workers said.

"We are happy because we have a clean slate," said state civil protection chief Jose Gajon. "No one was killed."

Before John made landfall on Friday evening as a Category 2 storm, about 4000 people living in low-lying areas of La Paz were moved to shelters.

By Saturday afternoon, the US National Hurricane Center said John had weakened to a tropical storm from a Category 1 hurricane. The storm was still expected to churn up Baja California before heading out into the Pacific Ocean, posing no threat to the United States.

The peninsula extends about 1100km south from the US border.

Ester Aman, owner of the Angel Azul Hotel, said she felt the old building shaking as John lashed La Paz. "It was like a strobe light in the sky," she said of the lightning.

At Los Cabos, on the peninsula's western tip, thousands of tourists and locals took shelter. Vacationers sat out Friday on mattresses in conference rooms of five-star hotels.

"The hardest part was the waiting," said hospital secretary Patty Ruiz from Los Angeles, who had just gotten engaged to her boyfriend when the hurricane warning came.

Tourists went back to their hotel rooms on Saturday and were eager to restart their vacations.

"I want to enjoy Cabos, go clubbing and to the beach," said Lisa Perez, on a break from her California furniture store.

Local residents were less fortunate, with flooded roads meaning some faced a third night in shelters.

In the United States, the remnants of Tropical Storm Ernesto left more than 400,000 homes without power in the mid-Atlantic region on Saturday, and two people were reported dead in storm-related traffic accidents.

- REUTERS