Americans Urged To Evacuate As Monster Hurricane Approaches Popular Tourist Area

Colossal hurricane takes sharp turn towards stunning vacation hotspot as Americans told get ready to evacuate https://t.co/D9zVagEg1D pic.twitter.com/yLUzyaR2Z5

— New York Post (@nypost) September 23, 2026

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Officials advise Americans in the area to listen to local media and follow directions of local officials. Roads and flights are expected to be impacted. Mudslides could occur, they said.

Cabo San Lucas saw nearly two million Americans visit the city last year, according to the Los Cabos Tourism Observatory. September was the quietest month for American arrivals from 2023 to 2025.

Hurricane Polo is also expected to impact Southern California as it draws closer this weekend.

While it will not directly impact the area, it’s expected to produce dangerous surf, rip currents, and tropical humidity.

The threat comes just weeks after Hurricane Marie battered the California coast with flooding and high tides, and as the state prepares for what officials have warned could be a historic El Niño season.

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I'm declaring a state of emergency to mobilize state resources for a potentially historic El Niño winter in California.

With higher risks of heavy rain, flooding, and mudslides over the next several months, we're launching a whole-of-government effort to protect Californians. pic.twitter.com/nOcdVn8dwx

— Governor Gavin Newsom (@CAgovernor) September 21, 2026

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Polo was an “extremely dangerous” storm with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph (265 kph), the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said in an update from a NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft that was sent into the cyclone.

It was the third Category 5 hurricane of the Pacific season, following Genevieve and Lowell earlier this year. Category 5 is the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson scale, reflecting that a storm has maximum sustained winds exceeding 157 mph (253 kph).

Polo was centered 210 miles (338 kilometers) south of Zihuatanejo, Mexico, and nearly stationary over the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday night. The hurricane center said Polo was expected to start a slow but sharp turn northwest during the night and then travel in a generally west-northwestward direction over the next several days.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said in her morning press briefing that experts had indicated that the hurricane was not likely to touch land. Still, the NHC said hurricane-force winds are happening up to 40 miles (65 kilometers) from the storm’s center and tropical storm-force winds up to 105 miles (169 kilometers) away.

The hurricane set residents along Mexico’s Pacific coast on edge once again after being walloped by powerful cyclones a number of times in recent years. Beaches emptied out and dark clouds swirled above choppy seas, while Mexican authorities temporarily suspended classes Tuesday in a number of areas. Mexico’s navy shut down ports in the states of Guerrero and Michoacán and warned civilians and fishermen to take care.

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