People in Puerto San Carlos, in Mexico’s Baja California Sur state, left their homes on Monday, September 28, 2026, as Hurricane Polo approached the coast. The Associated Press photographed the evacuation. AP photojournalist Ramón Espinosa, based in Havana, curated the regional gallery, which AP updated at 8:19 p.m. UTC on October 1, 2026.
Leaving Home Ahead of the Storm
The Puerto San Carlos image is the gallery’s starkest. Families had to choose what to carry and what to leave behind. The photograph came four days before October 2, 2026. According to the gallery’s title, Polo brushed Mexico’s coast; the images show communities in its path forced to move.
Elsewhere, nature made its own headlines. Seabirds perched on the carcass of a southern right whale off El Doradillo Beach, near Puerto Madryn, Argentina, on Wednesday, September 30. In Chile, rains turned part of the Atacama Desert into a carpet of flowers near Copiapo on Thursday, September 24. That was eight days before October 2.
Brazil’s Campaign Trail
Politics appears in the gallery, too. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who was running for reelection, greeted supporters at a campaign rally in Sao Paulo on Saturday, September 26. On Monday, September 28, opposition presidential candidate Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro campaigned in the same city. The events took place four to six days before October 2. Within the same week, both candidates courted voters in Brazil’s largest city.
Care, Culture and Public Life
Several photographs show people gathering and caring for one another. Residents sat in a communal area at the Pequeño Cottolengo Don Orione, a home for people with disabilities in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Thursday, September 24. Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to visit the home in November. In Montevideo, Uruguay, a reveler joined a Pride parade on Friday, September 25.
Culture and leisure fill out the gallery. Competitors raced guinea pigs during celebrations marking the 107th anniversary of the canton of Salcedo, Ecuador, on Saturday, September 26. Visitors toured the international art fair ARTBO in Bogota, Colombia, on Thursday, September 24. On Sunday, September 27, a man sat on the black sand of Chame beach in Panama.
The gallery includes images from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Uruguay and Panama. Together, they cover storms, elections, faith, art and everyday life across the region in a single week.
Why This Matters: Evacuations like the one at Puerto San Carlos depend on public institutions: warning systems, shelters and emergency planning that determine whether people can get out safely as a hurricane nears. The gallery doesn’t explain how Mexico organized the evacuation, but the photograph shows who bears the immediate burden when a storm approaches: ordinary residents leaving home. The other images point to the democratic and social life that public institutions support. Brazil’s candidates openly competed for votes, Uruguay held a Pride parade, and a Buenos Aires home for people with disabilities prepared for a papal visit. Seen together, the photographs show how much daily life depends on public protection and public space.