US southwest on high alert as Hurricane Hilary climbs Mexico coast

Cabo San Lucas (Mexico) (AFP) - States across the typically arid US southwest were racing Saturday to prepare for life-threatening flooding forecast as Hurricane Hilary approaches from Mexico, where damage and one death were reported. A Saturday night bulletin from the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Hilary's winds had significantly weakened but were still sustained at a hazardous 90 miles per hour (145 kilometers per hour) with higher gusts. On the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, that would put the storm at a Category 1, down from its Category 4 peak. The storm's center "will move clo...