Hurricane Ignacio sideswiped the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula Sunday, threatening to batter the region with winds topping 105 mph as authorities closed all ports and airports and evacuated low-lying areas.

The hurricane gathered force Sunday as it pushed north into the narrow Gulf of California, hugging the eastern edge of this desert peninsula sprinkled with golf courses and five-star hotels.

The governor of Baja California Sur state announced the evacuation of about 6,000 people in low-lying areas in La Paz, 50 miles north of Cabo San Lucas, and smaller communities further south.

"Under no pretext should we allow any residents to remain in high-risk zones," Gov. Leonel Cota said. "We have to evacuate them for their own good."

But some residents of Agua Escondida ignored warnings to leave homes cobbled together from packing crates, wood and cardboard.

Police officer Husberto Camacho Dominguez used his patrol car's public address system to urge residents to leave and take their families to safety.

"Take them to a more secure location because family is the most important thing," he said.

A block away, Jose Luis Gonzalez continued mixing gravel for his half-built brick house.

"I'm not moving from here," he said. "I just built my house and I don't want to leave it alone."

By Sunday afternoon, all ports on the lower peninsula were closed after tying down boats or sending them out to sea.

The hurricane appeared to bypass the resort city Cabo San Lucas, known for its deep sea fishing, golf courses and an arch-shaped rock formation off its main bay.

The hurricane's center remained over the gulf Sunday evening, as Ignacio drifted slowly north along the eastern edge of the Baja California peninsula at speeds up to 5 mph.

Hurricane-force winds extended out up to 25 miles from the center, and tropical-storm force winds extended out up to 85 miles, buffeting the peninsula with wind and rain.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said rainfall of up to 16 inches could cause life-threatening flash floods and mud slides. The center predicted no change in Ignacio's strength for the next day or two.

Many peninsula residents took the threat of the approaching storm seriously.

Martin Cruz, 33, and his family left his house in Progreso for shelter in a local university, where evacuees stretched out across the floor on blankets and ate donated tuna tostadas.

"We left as soon as we heard the warnings," Cruz said. "When Hurricane Juliette came through (in 2001), it swept away my house. So we know to take it seriously."

Business owners in the fishing harbor and capital city of La Paz rushed to protect property.

Serio Galindo and Elida Ojeda strapped wide strips of masking tape across the front windows of their clothing store.

"We've had hurricanes hit here before, and that's why we're taking precautions," Galindo said.

A lone sailboarder whipped across La Paz bay in the afternoon as rain fell intermittently and the center of the storm crept closer.

La Paz resident Cuauhtemoc Benitez welcomed the storm.

"The important thing here is that it rained," he said. "When it rains here, it is a party."

Flo and Jim Rhodes, a retired couple from Scottsdale, Ariz., tied their motor yacht, Inspiration, to a dock as the wind picked up and rain started falling on the La Paz marina.

"We were out (at sea) when we heard the storm warnings," said Jim Rhodes. "So we decided to come back in."

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