Mexico braces for flooding from Hurricane Polo

– Residents of Mexico's Baja California Sur state boarded up homes and workers hauled dirt and rubble to shore up embankments as Hurricane Polo bore down on the peninsula Monday, threatening high winds, floods and mudslides.

Warning areas and potential impact

Meanwhile, Hurricane Nolo could still bring torrential rain to parts of Hawaii even as the storm edged away from the state.

In Puerto San Carlos, a fishing town of about 5,700 people, some feared high tides and pounding waves from Polo could breach barriers and send seawater into the community.

Some families planned to head to shelters in Ciudad Constitucion, about 37 miles away, while dozens of people elsewhere in the state were evacuated.

"Civil Protection told those of us here in San Carlos to evacuate because this is a high-risk area.

With the current tides, the expected waves and the wind, the earthen barriers they built (to prevent flooding) could give way," said Rocío Sánchez, a fisherwoman.

Polo was a Category 3 storm with top sustained winds of 115 mph Monday morning, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Forecasters said it would hit the Mexican mainland after lashing Baja California Sur with heavy rains, and that "life threatening winds and flash floods (were) expected to occur soon." It could bring heavy rain and flooding to parts of the U.S. Southwest later in the week.