Hurricane Beryl makes landfall near popular Mexico tourist resort Tulum: Live updates
Hurricane Beryl devastated Jamaica on Wednesday, destroying buildings and knocking out power for 400,000 customers
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Hurricane Beryl, currently at the top end of a Category 2 storm, has made landfall at the popular Mexico tourist resort Tulum on Friday morning with 110mph (175km/h) winds and dangerous storm surge.
The region will see life-threatening winds, up to six feet of storm surge and up to ten inches of rainfall, the National Hurricane Center has forecast.
Hurricane Beryl will then bring dangerous rip currents to the Gulf Coast over the weekend before likely hitting southern Texas Monday.
Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has warned that Beryl may make a direct hit on Tulum, urging tourists and residents to seek higher ground, shelter, or homes of family and friends elsewhere.
“Don’t hesitate, material possessions can be replaced,” the president wrote.
Hurricane Beryl has killed at least ten people, Reuters reports. Two of those killed — the first in St George’s, Grenada and the second in Hanover, Jamaica — died after hurricane-force winds knocked trees onto their homes.
Hurricane Beryl devastated Jamaica on Wednesday, knocking out power to 400,000 and destroying buildings, while Grenada was also left with “unimaginable” destruction after the storm passed through Monday, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said, damaging or destroying 98 percent of buildings.
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In Pictures: Mexico bracing for Hurricane Beryl that has now made landfall
Hurricane Beryl has now made landfall near Tulum, a popular tourist destination in Mexico, bringing with it hurricane-force winds, storm surge and damaging waves.
In the days before Beryl hit, the Yucatan Peninsula started to prepare for what was to come, after Beryl already killed at least 10 people and brought mass destruction to islands in the Caribbean this week.
Storm shelters were opened, and tourist resorts prepared for the strong winds, as authorities also taped off beaches and thousands of troops were deployed ahead of Beryl.
Hurricane Beryl moves inland after making landfall in Mexico Friday morning
Beryl’s maximum sustained winds have dropped ever so slightly to 100mphm (160km/h) as the storm moves inland over the Yucatan Peninsula.
The center of the hurricane is expected to cross the northern Yucatan Peninsula today before emerging over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico tonight.
The hurricane is expected to rapidly weaken as it traverses further inland, but will re-intensify once it moves back over the Gulf of Mexico.
ICYMI: Watch as plane flies into the eye of Hurricane Beryl
Hurricane Beryl makes landfall near popular Mexico tourist resort Tulum
The center of Hurricane Beryl has made landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula, just northeast of the popular Mexcian tourist area of Tulum at around 6.05am EST Friday morning.
Maximum sustained winds are at 110mph (175mph), meaning Beryl currently stays at a strong Category 2 storm.
Mexico’s tourist destinations on red alert as beaches close and troops deployed
Mexico’s popular tourist destinations have been put on red alert Thursday night as the Category 2 hurricane moves in after leaving a path of devastation across Caribbean islands.
As Hurricane Beryl is expected to make landfall in the next few hours, Mexico’s top tourist destinations were put on red alert as life-threatening and dangerous weather conditions are due to pass over the area.
A "red alert" called by Mexico’s civil protection agency indicates a threat of maximum hazard from the hurricane, telling people to stay in their homes or at storm shelters, Reuters said.
"Let’s take all measures of prevention and care because the winds and rains will be felt throughout the state. At this time no one should be away from home," Quintana Roo Governor Maya Lezama said.
Police have taped off beaches in Playa del Carmen, while in Quintana Roo, schools have been shut, and around 120 storm shelters were opened by the defense ministry.
More than 8,600 troops from the army, air force and national guard have been deployed in the Yucatan Peninsula to assist and support as Hurricane Beryl draws near, CNN reports.
ICYMI: United Nations dedicates $4 million to aid for Jamaica, eastern Caribbean
The United Nations will put $4 million towards aid efforts in Jamaica, Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines in the wake of Hurricane Beryl, the BBC reports.
Earlier this week, the UN said officials in Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines are working closely with local leaders to help with recovery efforts.
“To date, Grenada and St Vincent’s and the Grenadines have reported hundreds of people in shelters,” a UN spokesperson said.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has asked for the international community to “show solidarity” with all the Caribbean countries in Hurricane Beryl’s path, the spokesperson said.
Beryl has weakened slightly to a strong Category 2 as hurricane closes in to Mexico
Hurricane Beryl has weakened ever so slightly to a strong Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 110mph as it approaches Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.
A hurricane needs to sustain at least 111mph to be considered a Category 3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, making it a major hurricane.
Despite its category, the National Hurricane Center has warned residents who will be impacted to shelter in place while the “life-threatening conditions” pass through the Yucatan Peninsula today.
There is an expectation of hurricane-force winds, dangerous storm surge and heavy rainfall, as well as rip currents that could cause life-threatening beach conditions beginning late today and over the weekend across much of the Gulf Coast.
Hurricane Beryl close to landfall in the Yucatan Peninsula with 110mph winds
Hurricane Beryl has weakened ever so slightly in its wind speed as is hurtles towards Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, with 110mph maximum sustained winds.
Only 40 miles (65km) east of Tulum in Mexico, Beryl is expected to make landfall in Mexico within the next few hours. The National Hurricane Center warns of storm surge that could raise water levels as much as four to six feet above ground levels along the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, bringing with it large and destructive waves.
Throughout today, weather experts predict rainfall totals of four to six inches, with localized amounts of 10 inches in the area, with scattered instances of flash flooding.
Large swells are already impacting portions of the coast of Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and the Yucatan Peninsula, and are expected to reach eastern Mexico and much of the Gulf Coast of the US by late today.
These swells are predicted to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.
Mexico’s tourism sector is on high alert
Hotels, resorts and tour operators in Quintana Roo have activated emergency plans, securing their facilities and preparing their staff for the oncoming dangerous weather that Beryl is set to bring.
Cancun International Airport and other regional airports are also on alert and ready for flight cancellations and diversions, the Tulum Times reports.
Cancun’s airport has already canceled at least 100 flights on Thursday as tourists hurried to try and catch the final flights out of the hurricane zone, Reuters said.
Hurricane Beryl is set to make landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula in the next few hours on Friday morning, with tourist areas like Tulum, under risk of being directly hit.
A Hurricane Warning is in effect for the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico from Puerto Costa Maya to the country’s popular tourist destination Cancun, including Cozumel.
Around 3,000 tourists were evacuated from the island of Isla Mujeres and returned to the mainland near Cancun, the island’s tourism director Jose Magana said.
Meanwhile in Tulum, local residents were lining up to fill up their tanks at the gas station and hotels and tourist complexes were removing loose furniture in time for the strong winds.
Mexico tourist destinations on red alert as beaches close and troops deployed
Mexico’s popular tourist destinations were put on red alert on Thursday evening as the hurricane heads for Mexico after leaving a path of devastation across Caribbean islands.
The “red alert” called by Mexico’s civil protection agency indicates a threat of maximum hazard from the Category 2 hurricane, telling people to stay in their homes or at storm shelters, Reuters reports.
“Let’s take all measures of prevention and care because the winds and rains will be felt throughout the state. At this time no one should be away from home,” Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama said.
In Playa del Carmen, police have restricted the entrances of breaches with yellow caution tape, while authorities in Quintana Roo closed schools and opened around 120 storm shelters, reports say.
More than 8,600 troops from the army, air force and national guard have also been deployed in the Yucatan Peninsula to assist and support as dangerous and life-threatening weather closes in on the region, CNN says.
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