Hurricane updates

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 close to the west-central coast of the Baja California Peninsula" Saturday night and Sunday Morning, the NHC said, and "then move across southern California Sunday afternoon." — AFP