Mexico plans evacuation of tourists from Cancun as hurricane Emily advances
Mexican officials recommended Friday evacuating tourists from much of the country’s Caribbean coast - including the resort of Cancun - if hurricane Emily continues heading toward the Yucatan peninsula.
While no evacuation has yet been ordered, the Cancun city government is already meeting with local bus companies to arrange transport for tourists away from the low-lying spit of land that houses much of Cancun’s hotel sector.
The Interior Department recommended evacuating the Caribbean coast from Tulum to an area north of Cancun, and urged people to take refuge at least one kilometre inland.
The department also suggested evacuating popular tourist islands such as Cozumel and Isla Mujeres.
More: canada.com
Mexico warns tourists in Cancun of threat from Hurricane Emily
Mexican officials issued a hurricane warning Saturday for much of the eastern Yucatan peninsula, including the resort of Cancun, as Hurricane Emily barreled across the Caribbean south of Jamaica.
Authorities already were recommending tourists leave much of Mexico's Caribbean coast as a precaution.
While evacuation had not yet been ordered, the Cancun city government met with local bus companies to arrange transportation for tourists away from the low-lying spit of land that houses much of Cancun's hotel sector, which lies almost directly in the catagory 4 hurricane's path.
Mexico issued a hurricane
Six dead as Wilma batters Mexico
At least six people have died as Hurricane Wilma lingers over Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, Reuters reports.
Two deaths been reported on the island on the island of Cozumel, and one person died in Cancun when a gust of wind blew out a window.
In the resort town of Playa del Carmen, two people died when a gas tank exploded, while to the west of the Yucatan Peninsula, a large tree branch crushed a man to death.
The slow-moving storm has sent waves as high as the third storey of some hotels in the resort of
Hurricane halts Mexico travel
Tour operators are holding back tourists from the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, which was hit by Hurricane Emily last week, until hotels reopen and damage is assessed.
Winds of 125mph swept across the popular holiday region on Monday, killing six and forcing the evacuation of 30,000 tourists in Cancun. Many had to camp in a local gymnasium for the night. Some tourists on the island of Cozumel also had to abandon their hotels.
The hurricane continued to the north-east coast and moved inland, travelling westwards. A hurricane warning remained in effect from La Cruz to the Texas border at
Tourists fleeing Yucatan ahead of hurricane
Long lines of people choked the Cancun airport as tourists rushed to leave this Caribbean resort ahead of Hurricane Emily, which packed 155 mph winds as it streaked toward Mexico.
Mexican officials issued a hurricane warning today for much of the eastern Yucatan peninsula, including the resort of Cancun, and authorities were recommending tourists abandon much of Mexico's Caribbean coast as a precaution.
Sunny skies and a laid-back atmosphere still prevailed at the resort, despite the approaching Category 4 hurricane.
"The locals seem pretty nonchalant about it," said Becky Hart, 29, a school teacher from Madera, Calif.,
Hurricane Emily may hit eastern Mexico
authorities warned Thursday the inhabitants of Yucatan Peninsula, east of the country, about the possibility that hurricane Emily hits the area on Sunday.
The National Meteorological Service (SMN) said in a statement that Emily is in the Caribbean, 2,700 km off the Mexican littoral.
The hurricane has sustained gusts of wind of 160 km per hour, even reaching 185, with the possibility of further increasing.
The Civil Protection authorities told the inhabitants of the states of Quintana Roo, Campeche and Yucatan to
Hurricane Emily Aims at Mexico Coastline
Hurricane Emily swirled across the Gulf of Mexico Tuesday and took aim once again at the Mexican coastline, forcing thousands in the northeast and in southern Texas to seek higher ground.
The storm was gathering strength as it barreled toward the coast, a day after ripping roofs off resort hotels and stranding thousands of tourists along the Mayan Riviera, which includes the resort of Cancun.
Winds and rains were expected to begin lashing land again later Tuesday, and the eye of the storm was likely to come ashore near the fishing village of La
Hurricane Emily's winds start battering Mexico
Hurricane Emily started lashing the beaches of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula late Sunday.
The Category 4 storm blew down signs and trees, leaving Isla Mujeres and parts of the island of Cozumel and Cancun without electricity.
Emily's eye would pass over Cozumel early Monday, authorities predicted.
The hurricane did slightly weaken as it approached Mexico, with speeds dropping from 235 kilometres per hour to 220 km/h.
Earlier Sunday, chaos ruled at Cancun, Mexico's airport as tourists waited for flights to escape hurricane Emily.
At Toronto's Pearson Airport, Dave Job arrived on one flight -- but without his son.
While concerned, "I'm a
Mexico reports death from Emily
After enduring four days of battering from Hurricane Emily, Mexican authorities on Friday reported the first death from a storm that destroyed thousands of buildings and drove 90,000 people from their homes.
The report of a woman swept away by floodwaters in the northern city of San Pedro Garza Garcia came just as President Vicente Fox toured the devastation caused by the hurricane, whose winds began raking the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan Peninsula on Sunday.
The evacuation of tens of thousands of people in the Yucatan area and along Mexico's northern Gulf coast helped avoid
Hurricane Emily roars across Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, stranding tourists
Hurricane Emily stranded thousands of tourists along Mexico's luxurious Mayan Riviera and left hundreds of local residents homeless Monday, forcing many to remain in crowded, leaky shelters.
As residents of Yucatan Peninsula resorts including Playa del Carmen and Tulum began wading through knee-deep flood waters to assess damage under a light drizzle, the storm barreled out into the Gulf of Mexico.
There were no immediate reports of death or serious injuries on the peninsula.
Emily was expected to regain strength before slamming into Mexico's northeast coastline. Residents of small coastal fishing villages, in
Canadians say tour operators in Mexico let them down
Weary Canadian tourists returning home from Mexico say the weather was bad thanks to hurricane Emily, but the lack of help from their tour operators was even worse.
"It was horrible. It was scary," Gracia Agostinho told CBC News in Montreal on Tuesday as she and her family returned home.
"It was the longest night of my life," she said, describing how her family huddled in a hotel bathroom while
Hurricane Emily roared by.
More: cbc.ca
