Cabo San Lucas, Mexico ? Tourists fled hotels and desperately sought flights home, while at least 15,000 residents were ordered to higher ground Thursday as a slightly weakened Hurricane John bore down on the resort of Cabo San Lucas.

The storm soaked beaches on the mainland’s Pacific coast before turning toward Baja California, where its eye was on course to hit the peninsula’s southern tip around midday today. It was downgraded to Category 2 with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph.

John wasn’t likely to affect the United States, as cooler Pacific waters tend to diminish storms before they reach California.