Mexico issues ‘red alert’ as Category 3 Hurricane Beryl hits coast via Reuters
Written by Jose Cortes and Paola Chiomante
TULUM/CANCUN, Mexico (Reuters) – Mexico’s top tourist destinations are on high alert as Hurricane Beryl strengthened to a Category 3 storm on Thursday night after leaving a trail of destruction across several Caribbean islands.
Beryl was packing winds of up to 115 mph (185 kph) as it made landfall on the east coast of the Yucatan peninsula early Friday, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC), which warned of a dangerous storm and damaging waves.
Mexico’s civil protection agency issued a “red alert” and asked people to stay in their homes or shelters as the typhoon approaches popular coastal tourist destinations such as Cozumel, Isla Mujeres, Tulum and Puerto Morelos.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador urged people in the path of the storm to take shelter after the forecast of strong weather and floods that could cause landslides and floods.
“There is no doubt. Material things can be returned. The most important thing is health,” the president wrote on social media.
The storm hit the Cayman Islands early Thursday after battering Jamaica with winds that tore through buildings and trees.
Authorities say at least 11 people have died as a result of the typhoon crossing Jamaica, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and northern Venezuela. The number is likely to rise as communications are restored and more reports come in from islands devastated by flooding and strong winds.
The entire state of Quintana Roo, home to Mexico’s top tourist destination, Cancun, was bracing for the storm, Governor Mara Lezama said in a video posted on X.
“Let’s take all measures to protect and take care because the wind and rain will be felt in the whole region. Right now no one should be away from home,” said Lelama.
At Cancun’s international airport, at least 100 flights were canceled Thursday as tourists scrambled to catch the last ones.
Stragglers explored the beach in Cancun on Thursday evening as the winds picked up. In nearby Playa del Carmen, police sealed off the beach entrances with yellow caution tape to deter visitors ahead of Beryl’s arrival.
The strongest, early-season storm was about 90 miles (145 km) east-southeast of the Mexican beach resort of Tulum, according to the NHC.
Earlier on Thursday, officials in the Cayman Islands made it clear after the storm largely spared them.
Beryl weakened on Thursday after moving off the south coast of Jamaica late Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
“We are happy to be alive, we are happy that the damage is not too great,” said Joseph Patterson, a beekeeper in the southwestern Jamaican town of Bogue. He described downed power lines, roads blocked by debris and “massive damage” to farms.
There have been two deaths in Jamaica related to the storm, said Prime Minister Andrew Holness in an interview with CBC on Thursday.
About 70% of the National Water Commission’s 400,000 customers do not have water, a company representative said.
Still, many Jamaicans are “grateful,” Holness said, after “escaping the worst”.
Beryl is forecast to dump 4-6 inches (10-15 cm) of rain in Mexico’s Yucatan through Friday, with 10 inches in other areas, the NHC said.
The hurricane center expects the storm to weaken quickly as it moves across the peninsula early Friday, but it appears to be strengthening again as Beryl moves along the Gulf of Mexico.
The storm is expected to move into northeastern Mexico and southern Texas by the end of the weekend, the NHC said.
VISITORS BEWARE
On Thursday, about 3,000 tourists were evacuated from the island of Isla Mujeres and returned to the mainland near Cancun, said the island’s tourism director Jose Magana.
Fisherman Jose Martin was one of those who held his boat in Cancun before Beryl’s arrival.
“It affects us well because, first, we can’t work, and second, we need to find shelter, so it’s not good,” said Martin.
Schools in Quintana Roo state were closed on Thursday and Friday. Mexico’s Ministry of Defense has opened about 120 storm shelters in the area.
Residents of Tulum lined up at gas stations to fill up their tanks and extra containers, while hotels and resorts removed loose furniture and equipment.
Beryl is the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic season and at its peak was the first Category 5 hurricane on record.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an “unusual” hurricane season this year. Scientists say that human-caused climate change is causing extreme weather.
Mexico’s major oil fields, most of which are clustered in the shallow waters of the southern Gulf of Mexico, are not expected to be shut down or otherwise affected.
Oil projects on the north coast, in US waters, could be hit, according to the storm’s expected direction.
