Hurricane bashes Mexico resorts, heads for US border
Hurricane Emily slammed into the Yucatan Peninsula on Monday, smashing hotels and homes in the main resort areas and halting all of Mexico’s oil exports before heading back to sea for a new strike toward the U.S. border.
Tens of thousands of locals and tourists along the popular “Maya Riviera” coastline of white beaches and blue-green seas rode out winds of 135 mph (215 kph) and torrential rain in makeshift shelters.
Several people died in Mexico in incidents indirectly caused by the powerful storm, which killed at least four in Jamaica.
Emergency workers in Tamaulipas state near the Texas border were evacuating some people on Monday night ahead of the hurricane’s expected arrival there.
Mexico’s major Caribbean resorts escaped largely unscathed but the small seaside town of Puerto Aventuras was roughed up.
More: today.reuters.co.uk
Tropical storm brushes Mexico, may become hurricane
Tropical Storm Lane lashed Mexicos Pacific coast with rain and high winds on Thursday and may soon become a hurricane as it heads toward land near tourist resorts, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
The storm, packing maximum winds of 45 mph (75 kph), was about 105 miles (165 km) south of the beach resort of Manzanillo and heading northwest at 13 mph (20 kph),. It is expected to touch the Baja California peninsula near the tourist destination of Los Cabos on Sunday morning.
The Miami-based center forecast Lane could become a hurricane within 36 hours.
It
Hurricane Wilma heads for Gulf of Mexico
Hurricane Wilma strengthened in the Caribbean Tuesday and headed toward the Gulf of Mexico, where it seemed likely to spare battered U.S. oil and gas fields but threatened storm-weary Florida.
The rapidly intensifying storm also menaced Honduras and Nicaragua with up to 10 inches of rain, compounding the woes of Central America. More than 1,000 people in Guatemala and El Salvador were killed by landslides and floods triggered by Hurricane Stan this month.
Wilma was expected to strengthen into a major hurricane with winds of more than 110 mph by Thursday and its likely
Mexico resorts getting back in the swim
Tourism officials in the hurricane-battered Mexican state of Quintana Roo hope to have 80 percent of the accommodations and amenities in the affected Caribbean coast resorts fully operational by February.
The Yucatan Peninsula state, home to tourism magnets Cancun, Cozumel and the Riviera Maya, accounts for about 36 percent of Mexico's nearly $11 billion tourism industry, according to Quintana Roo tourism secretary Gabriela Rodriguez.
Hurricane Wilma hit Cancun the hardest in late October, closing most of its hotel rooms. Between 8,000 and 10,000 of the city's approximately 25,000 hotel rooms are now open, and officials expect
Hurricane reshapes Mexico's resort scene
The most frazzled, flustered, frantic people in Cabo San Lucas these days may be the wedding planners.
Thousands of vacationers are flocking to Cabo and other western Mexican resorts to relax and say their "I do's."
That's because more than a month after Hurricane Wilma thrashed Cancun — the country's premier resort — and the rest of Mexico's eastern coast, that area is still recuperating. Most hotels and businesses along the 10-mile waterfront strip are closed, and much of the beach has been stripped of its white powder sand.
The effect of Hurricane Wilma, says Ruben Cota,
UPDATE 4-Hurricane Wilma lashes Mexico's beach resorts
Hurricane Wilma's fierce winds and rain battered Mexico's famed Caribbean beach resorts on Friday, knocking over trees and trapping thousands of nervous tourists inside cramped shelters.
Powerful waves swallowed up white sand beaches in the popular resort of Cancun and electricity was cut all along Mexico's "Maya Riviera" and on the island of Cozumel, a favorite of scuba divers and cruise ship passengers.
Sturdy tropical trees danced in howling winds and others lay toppled in empty and flooded streets in the resort of Playa del Carmen, just south of Cancun. Snapped electricity cables dangled above the
Hurricane Otis heads towards Mexico
Hurricane Otis gathered force as it moved toward Mexico's Baja California peninsula.
At 1200 GMT, the center of the hurricane was located about 135 miles (215 km) west-southwest of the southern tip of the Baja peninsula about 205 miles (330 km) south of Cabo San Lazaro, according to the US National Hurricane Center in Florida.
Otis was heading slowly northeast with winds of up to 105 miles (165 km) per hour and some stronger gusts, ranking it as a category two hurricane out of a possible five on the Saffir-Simpson scale, the center said Saturday.
Hurricane Katrina,
Wilma may become hurricane, heads for Gulf of Mexico
Four of seven major weather models predict Tropical Storm Wilma, which could become a hurricane by Tuesday, will head for the Gulf Coast of Florida.
Earlier Monday morning, most of the models forecast the storm would crash into the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico or Belize later this week.
By late morning, most of the forecasts showed the storm would turn north toward western Cuba and Florida's Gulf Coast.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center still forecast the storm would graze the northeastern tip of the Yucatan and enter the Gulf of Mexico where it could
Hurricane lashes Mexico's popular Riviera Maya resorts
Hurricane Emily ripped roofs off luxury hotels along Mexico's Mayan Riviera, stranded thousands of tourists and left hundreds of local residents homeless today, forcing many to remain in crowded, leaky shelters.
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, as the storm barreled west into the Gulf of Mexico.
There were no immediate reports of death or serious injuries on the peninsula, but Emily was expected to regain strength and threaten Mexican oil rigs before slamming into northeast The worst
Wilma slams Mexico resorts, tourists flee
Lashing wind and rain pounded Mexican beach resorts on Friday and thousands of tourists hunkered down in shelters to escape Hurricane Wilma, which was hammering Caribbean resorts on its way to densely populated southern Florida. Heavy rain was coming down in diagonal sheets and howling winds were buckling sturdy trees.
Tourists were evacuated from luxury beachfront hotels all along Mexico’s “Maya Riviera†coast and the normally calm, turquoise Caribbean seas heaved and Wilma dumped rain on streets patrolled by soldiers ordering people to take cover.
Described by forecasters as extremely dangerous and at its height later
Hurricane Emily Weakens Slightly, On Course for Mexico
Weather Forecasters say Hurricane Emily has weakened slightly but may strengthen again Tuesday as it spins towards towards Mexico.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Emily's winds are near 150 kilometers an hour with higher gusts, making it a category one storm. It is moving west-northwest at about 24 kilometers per hour.
Forcasters predict the storm's center will be near Mexico's northeast coast by late Tuesday.
Emily battered beach resorts in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula Monday knocking out power lines, downing trees and causing tens of thousands to flee. Officials say Cozumel, a popular diving destination, was
