Norbert weakens off Mexico’s Baja coast

This NOAA satellite image taken Sunday, Sept. 7, 2014 at 1:45 a.m. EDT shows a cold front across the Northeast, Mid Atlantic, Tennessee Valley and the Lower Mississippi Valley producing thunderstorms and rain showers throughout the regions. Thunderstorms continue to develop over Florida and Georgia due to a tropical disturbance. Mostly clear skies over the Great Lakes, Upper Mississippi Valley and the Plains from dominating high pressure.(AP PHOTO/WEATHER UNDERGROUND)

A sign warns visitors of high surf as they stand on the jetty protecting Dana Point Harbor on Saturday afternoon Sept. 6, 2014 in Dana Point, California. Hurricane Norbert in Baja California is responsible for the high surf. Norbert weakened Saturday night to a Category 1 storm with winds of up to 85 mph (140 kph). Though staying away from land, it was near enough to the coast to drench fishing villages and resorts, and pound beaches. (AP Photo/The Orange County Register, Nick Agro)

A bulldozer works to pile sand on a temporary berm to protect beach front homes on, Friday, Sept. 5, 2014, in Long Beach, Calif. Southern California is in for another round of high surf generated by what is currently Hurricane Norbert in the Pacific Ocean off Baja California. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

A dump truck works to pile sand on a temporary berm to protect beach front homes on, Friday, Sept. 5, 2014, in Long Beach, Calif. Southern California is in for another round of high surf generated by what is currently Hurricane Norbert in the Pacific Ocean off Baja California. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

LOS CABOS, Mexico — Hurricane Norbert slumped to tropical storm force off of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula on Sunday after pounding fishing villages and damaging more than 1,000 homes while kicking up dangerous surf farther north along the California coast.

Norbert peaked as a Category 3 hurricane early Saturday with sustained winds of 120 mph (210 kph), but by Sunday it was a rapidly weakening tropical storm with winds of 60 mph (95 kph).

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the storm was likely to fade as it bends toward the coast of the peninsula by midweek, bringing more heavy rains to the Baja desert and to the U.S. Southwest.

Though it has stayed away from land, Norbert passed near enough to the coast in recent days to drench fishing villages and resorts, and pound beaches.

High surf and waves broke a contention wall and flooded the fishing village of Puerto San Carlos, said Venustiano Perez, mayor of the municipality of Comondu, which encompasses the village and is located about 300 miles (500 kilometers) north of the tip of the peninsula.

The state government reported that 500 people there had gone to shelters and health officials were taking steps to fight mosquitoes in stagnant water to prevent the spread of dengue

At least 2,000 people were evacuated from Los Cabos, La Paz and Comondu, said the state government’s civil protection director Carlos Rincon.

The hurricane also was causing high surf along the beaches of Southern California and contributing to rainstorms across the Southwest.

Earlier, the storm toppled trees and knocked out electricity in parts of Los Cabos. Firefighters rescued several people from vehicles stranded in flooded streets, said Wenceslao Pettit, public safety director in Cabo San Lucas.

Ports in the area popular with U.S. tourists remained closed to navigation and police officers were sent to the evacuated neighborhoods to prevent looting, Pettit added.

The Miami-based Hurricane Center in Miami said that Norbert was centered about 170 miles southwest of Punta Eugenia, Mexico and was heading west-northwest at 8 mph.