* Popular resort of Los Cabos hammered by storm
* Tourists, residents huddle in emergency shelters
* Photos posted on social media reveal heavy damage
By Gerardo Esquerre
CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Hurricane Odile barreled through the Mexican beach mecca of Baja California early on Monday, thrashing luxury resorts and tearing trees from roots as tens of thousands of tourists hunkered down in shelters.
Winds of up to 115 miles per hour (185 km/h) buffeted shelters, ripping away boards nailed over windows as one of the worst recorded storms slammed the golden sand beaches of the popular resort of Los Cabos on the west coast of the country.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the category 3 hurricane was "battering" the south of the mountainous desert peninsula. It added that heavy rains were likely to trigger life-threatening flash floods and mud slides.
However the weather service said Odile was expected to slow as it pushed north-northwest along the peninsula and forecast the storm would steadily weaken over the next two days.
Winds eased slightly as the storm moved over land. But because it struck in the middle of the night, details were scant on the extent of any damage early Monday.
Tourists stranded in shelters or hiding in the bathtubs of their rooms posted photos on social media showing windows, barricaded with furniture, after they were blown out by the strong winds.
"This is really bad. My ears are about to explode by the pressure and I have an inch of water in my kitchen/living room," said Sarah McKinney on her Twitter account.
Another woman posted a video online showing workmen erecting sheets of chipboard and boarded-up windows shaking. Dozens of people sat huddled with pillows in the middle of a large room.
"I'm sweating like hell. Scary sound of howling wind," Alba Mora Roca said on her Twitter feed.
"The windows of the shelter broke. More than 200 people moved to the basement but there's no space. Many are sitting on the stairs."
Reuters was not immediately able to contact either woman.
"THERE AREN'T WORDS FOR THIS"
At least 26,000 foreign tourists and 4,000 Mexicans were in the region, according to Mexican officials, while emergency workers and military personal evacuated thousands of people from areas at risk of flooding.
Some storm experts said it was the strongest hurricane to hit the southern tip of the peninsula since the advent of satellite data.
"We haven't seen one get so close and with the possibility of impact, and of such a nature," said Wenceslao Petit, head of emergency services in Los Cabos. "There aren't words for this."
Ahead of the storm's approach, people in Cabo San Lucas had rushed to board up windows, clear beach furniture and remove fishing boats and yachts from the water into dry docks.
"If it doesn't lose intensity, this is going to do some damage," said Rosalio Salas, 59, who works at Picante sport fishing charters in Cabo San Lucas.
While other beaches in Mexico were packed with tourists during the long weekend leading to Tuesday's Independence Day holiday, the resorts of Los Cabos are mostly visited by Americans and are in low season.
Luis Puente, the head of Mexico's civil protection agency, told a news conference that 164 shelters had been readied with a capacity for 30,000 people. There are no major oil installations in the area. (Reporting by Michael O'Boyle, Tomas Sarmiento, Simon Gardner and Dave Graham; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
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