Road crews and sanitation workers in Los Cabos spent the week digging out after Lorena’s rains choked access to landfills and left streets clogged with mud and debris. Officials say only a quarter of garbage routes are back, with more coming online as crews reopen the Catarina stream crossing and the road to the Palo Escopeta landfill. The push is happening around the clock, but recent landfill fires and battered roads complicate the job. Here’s what’s working now—and what still isn’t.
Los Cabos garbage collection
Garbage pickup in Los Cabos is coming back in stages after Hurricane Lorena’s rains flooded low crossings and blocked access to dump sites. Municipal public services director Manuel Ernesto Montaño Castro said crews have restarted disposal at the La Candelaria landfill and are adding routes as streets reopen. As of Friday, September 5, service recovery stood at about 25 percent.
City teams are throwing everything they have at the backlog—press trucks, dump trucks, flatbeds, and small stake-beds—while working day and night. The immediate goal is to clear access so collection can keep pace with the piles forming at curbside.
What slowed the pickup
Lorena’s heavy bands turned dry arroyos into swift flows that tore up streets and choked key crossings. That left collection trucks unable to reach entire neighborhoods. The municipality, working with the National Guard and federal transport authorities (SICT), has focused first on reopening streets and stabilizing access points.
Two choke points matter most for restoring full service: the Catarina stream crossing and the road to the Palo Escopeta landfill near San José del Cabo. Both are under repair to enable more routes to dump legally and safely. Until those links are stable, crews will continue to shuttle loads where they can, which takes longer and limits coverage.
Where Lorena stands now
Lorena peaked as a Category 1 hurricane before weakening to a tropical storm and then a post-tropical remnant while moving away from Baja California Sur. The state’s Civil Protection council reported Friday that the system no longer posed a direct risk, though scattered rains would continue and could keep some roads soft or undermined. That forecast determines how quickly the city can restore its service.
Capacity and recent strain at the dumps
Even before Lorena, Los Cabos’ waste system was under pressure. Fires at La Candelaria were reported this summer, forcing firefighters to contain hot spots and slowing daily operations. Longer term, local officials have floated the need for a third landfill as La Candelaria and Palo Escopeta approach their limits. Those realities don’t halt storm cleanups, but they do make recovery slower and more fragile.
What residents should expect next
Montaño Castro urged residents to watch municipal channels for route updates as more streets reopen. With access to Palo Escopeta and the Catarina crossing improving, the city expects more routes to come back online each day. For now, put bags out only on your regular pickup day to avoid animals and blow-outs, and keep debris piles separate from household trash so trucks can load faster.
