Hurricane Ready · La Ventana, BCS

Why this matters here

The town remembers

On the Sea of Cortez side we're often spared the worst of the wind — but water, and being cut off from La Paz, is what has always hurt this coast.

1976

Liza

The deadliest. A flash flood burst a dyke near La Paz — hundreds lost. Rain, not wind, was the killer.

2003

Marty

Hit La Paz directly. Boats torn from anchor, docks destroyed, city flooded.

2006

John

110 mph. Power cut across La Paz to stop electrocutions; 20+ inches of rain closed roads and the airport.

2014

Odile

The big one. Drinking water cut off across all of BCS, 10,000 homes hit, weeks without power, shelves emptied.

2023

Norma

Up to 19 in of rain. Streets and highways washed out, La Paz airport and port closed, tens of thousands without power.

The pattern is clear. Direct wind is the rarer danger. The reliable one is flooding — arroyos rising in minutes, the road to La Paz closing, and days without power, water, or a way to restock. This year's season is forecast above-normal with a strengthening El Niño, so plan early and plan for isolation, not just for wind.

In the order it needs to happen

The order of operations

Five phases, from the quiet start of the season to the days after the storm passes. Do each one at its time — most mistakes come from leaving the early phases too late.

Before the season · do once, now

Set it up while the sky is calm

Cut and label your window panels.Plywood sells out first. Cut, drill, and mark them now — details in the next section.
Build the go-kit and the stay-kit.Water, food, meds, cash, docs in a dry bag. Full checklist at the end.
Photograph the house and papers.Every room, the roof, vehicles — for insurance. Store the photos in the cloud.
Know your arroyo crossings.Walk the road to the highway. Learn which low crossings flood — those are the ones that trap people.
Agree a check-in plan with neighbors.Who has a generator, a truck, a satellite messenger, spare water. Cell service fails early.
Track down the after-storm gear now.A solar power bank and a couple of small solar fans for the heat, and an analog AM/FM radio — not a digital or streaming one — to catch local Protección Civil and government updates when the internet is down.

72 – 48 hrs out · a watch is issued

Make the La Paz run early

Drive to La Paz before everyone else does.Shelves empty within a day and the road can close. Go the first morning of a watch — and go early, home by noon, before the afternoon sierra rain raises the arroyos (see the La Paz section).
Fuel: vehicle full, plus jerry cans and propane.Stations run dry and power outages shut the pumps for days.
Cash out.No power means no card readers and no ATMs. Small bills.
Water, non-cook food, meds, batteries, ice.Plan per person for three weeks of isolation — roughly 4 L of water and 2,000 kcal a day. Exact amounts below.
Download offline maps and top up phone credit.

36 – 24 hrs out · a warning is issued

Batten down

Board the windows now — before the wind starts, in daylight.
Bring in or tie down anything that can fly.Palapa furniture, kite gear, shade sails down, plant pots, gas tanks strapped. Flying debris is what breaks windows.
Fill every water container, plus the bathtub and tinaco.For washing and flushing when the pump has no power.
Secure boats and pangas with the Capitanía de Puerto; move trailers off the beach.
Charge everything; freeze bottles of water.Full freezer keeps food longer and gives you ice and cold drinking water.
Park away from trees, poles, and arroyos. Decide now: stay or go to a shelter.

During · the storm is over you

Stay small, stay inside

Shelter in an interior room — a hallway or bathroom, away from all windows even boarded ones.
Never drive or walk through moving water.An arroyo can go from dry to deadly in minutes. Turn around — this is how most people die here.
Don't trust the calm of the eye.The wind returns from the opposite direction, often harder. Wait for an official all-clear.
Keep an analog radio and your phone on for alerts;A simple AM/FM tuner catches local Protección Civil and government broadcasts even when cell and internet are down. Conserve battery otherwise.

After · the days that follow

Come out carefully

Wait for the official all-clear before going outside or opening the house.
Treat every downed line as live and stay clear of standing water near poles.
Watch every step outside.Roads and beaches fill with debris swept down through the arroyos from upstream — nails, glass, sheet metal, broken wood. Wear closed boots and gloves, and keep kids and pets close.
Treat all water as contaminated.Storms foul the tap, the wells and the tinaco. Until authorities confirm it's safe, drink, cook, and wash dishes only with water you've stored, boiled, or treated.
Photograph damage before you clean up; check for gas leaks before flames or switches.
Eat the food that will spoil first.With the power out, cook down the fridge and freezer before you touch the pantry — thawed meat and dairy won't keep.
Check on neighbors, then plan for isolation.Expect days before the road to La Paz reopens and power returns. Ration fuel and water.
Your car is a backup radio and charger.The car's AM/FM pulls in government updates, and the 12V and USB ports charge phones and power banks. Run the engine only outdoors, never in a closed garage.
Find the neighbor with solar.Whoever has panels and batteries can run fans and keep things cold. Arrange to gather there through the hottest hours to cool down, charge up, and share news.

Then make it a party. Pool that spoil-first food with the neighbors and cook it together — one big shared meal while the storm is still fresh. It keeps good food from going to waste, gets everyone's news and needs into one place, and does more for the after-storm nerves than anything else in the kit.

The requested section

Boarding the windows

Simple, reusable, and quick to put up when the warning comes. The trick is to do the slow, fiddly work now — in Phase 0 — so that Phase 2 is just lifting panels and driving screws.

Use 5/8″ (15 mm) exterior-grade plywood

It's the proven material — stops wind-borne debris and keeps glass in. Buy it in La Paz (Home Depot) at the start of the season, not when a storm is named.

Buy early

Cut each panel 4″ larger than the opening on every side

The overlap is what lets you anchor into solid wall around the glass instead of into the frame. Measure once per window; write the room and side on the back with marker — "cocina N", "sala E".

Label them

Set your anchors into the wall now

Most casas here are block or concrete. Drill and sink plastic expansion anchors (taquetes) around each window, every 12″, and pre-drill matching holes in the panels. When a warning comes you just line up and drive lag screws with an impact driver.

Concrete / block

Wood frame? Screw straight through

2½″ wood screws every 12–16″ around the perimeter, biting into the framing — not just the trim. Pre-drilled panels go up in minutes.

Wood frame

No plywood? Improvise, then relocate

Close existing shutters, or move into a windowless interior room and brace a heavy mattress or furniture against the glass wall. Then plan to buy panels before the next storm — this is a stopgap, not a fix.

Last resort

Anchors (terracotta) every 12″ around the perimeter, biting into wall — not glass or frame.

Skip the masking-tape "X". It's the most common myth on the coast and it does nothing to stop a window breaking — it just turns the glass into bigger, more dangerous shards. Solid panels over the opening are what actually work.

Our nearest town, ~1 hour northwest

The La Paz lifeline

Everything La Ventana needs in a storm comes from La Paz — supplies, fuel, cash, and hospitals — down one road that crosses several arroyos. When that road floods, we're on our own. Time the run accordingly.

Every La Paz run · all season

Go at dawn, home by noon

All season long, storms build over the sierra most afternoons and send a wall of rain down the arroyos — usually around 1 PM, and often while it's still clear and sunny here on the bay. That water raises the road crossings fast. Make every La Paz run first thing in the morning and be back in La Ventana by noon. If you're still on the road at one, you may not get across — coming or going.

≈1 PM · rain hits the sierra

Roads clear · arroyos low Arroyos rising — don't cross

6 AM912 PM3 PM6 PM

The supply run

Go on the first day of a watch

Big stores for water, food, batteries: Chedraui, Soriana, Walmart, City Club
Home Depot for plywood, anchors, tarps, screws
Fuel — fill the tank and every can before the pumps lose power
Cash from several ATMs while they still work
Refill prescriptions and propane

If someone needs care

Know before you need it

La Ventana has only a small clinic — serious cases go to La Paz
Hospital General "Juan María de Salvatierra" (public)
Private hospitals in La Paz for faster care if insured
Go before the storm if a condition is fragile — not during
Once the road floods, ambulances can't reach us either

The road is the risk

The highway between La Ventana and La Paz crosses low arroyo beds that flood fast and hard. In Norma and Odile these crossings washed out and closed the road for days. Make your last trip before the rain starts, and never try to beat rising water across a crossing — that decision has killed people on this exact road.

When the sea
comes ashore