Cancun: Tourist resorts on Mexico’s Atanucatan peninsula were devastated by Hurricane Beryl, which packed strong winds after battering Jamaica and the Cayman Islands on Thursday.
After downgrading to Category 2, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said late Thursday that Beryl had been upgraded to Category 3 with sustained winds of 185 kilometers (115 miles) per hour before landfall is expected on Friday.
At 9:30 p.m. (0130 GMT Friday), the storm made landfall in the Caribbean Sea about 260 km southeast of Tulum. The resort town is a two-hour drive from Cancun, the other major tourist destination in the area.
The storm has left a path of destruction in the Caribbean and on the coast of Venezuela, killing at least seven people.
This is the first hurricane since NHC records began to reach Category 4 in June and the first to hit Category 5, the highest in July.
In Mexico, regional schools were closed and shelters were set up for locals and tourists.
In Cancun, people stock up on food and other essentials for a few days and climb out of hotel windows.
About 100 domestic and international flights scheduled between Thursday and Sunday were canceled at Mexico’s Caribbean hub, Cancun Airport.
Beryl is expected to hit the Atanucatan Peninsula, cross the Gulf of Mexico, and then make landfall in the northern state of Tamaulipas, which borders the United States.
Hundreds of tourists were evacuated from hotels on the Mexican coast, and some are still trying to get buses out of the impact zone.
However, some enjoyed a sunny day at the beach before taking refuge in their hotel.
“They canceled our flight and we had to pay for two extra nights,” said Virginia Rebollar, a Mexican tourist who traveled to Tula with three family members.
The Mexican military has deployed around 8,000 troops in Tulum and reports having food supplies and 34,000 liters of purified water to distribute.
The storm has caused flooding and landslides in the Cayman Islands.
More than 400,000 people in Jamaica are without power, the Jamaica Gleaner reports, citing utility companies.
Britain’s King Charles said he was deeply saddened by the damage caused by the Caribbean storm which affected several Commonwealth islands.
During the Atlantic hurricane season, which lasts from early June to late November, storms of this magnitude are rare.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), warm ocean temperatures are important for storms, and North Atlantic waters are currently between two and five degrees Fahrenheit (1 to 3 degrees Celsius).
UN climate chief Simon Stiell, who has family on Karriacou Island, said climate change was “driving disasters to new levels of destruction”.
