Mexico Fears Flooding From Hurricane Emily
Hurricane Emily swept ashore Wednesday and weakened, but it still threatened to unleash flash floods and landslides in the mountains after pounding the coast with 125 mph winds and forcing thousands along the Gulf of Mexico to flee.
The eye of the week-old hurricane came ashore before dawn near San Fernando, about 75 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border. Emily’s winds and torrential rains knocked out power, shredded metal roofs and shattered plate-glass windows.
There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries. Thousands of residents and tourists had been ordered to evacuate homes and hotels along the Gulf of Mexico. In southern Texas, about 4,000 people spent the night in 14 shelters.
Even as Emily lost strength as it moved inland, forecasters warned it still had the potential to cause major flooding and landslides, dumping as much as 15 inches of rain as it moves over the mountains of eastern Mexico.
“Emily is stick packing a punch,'’ the National Hurricane Center said.
Emily’s landfall Wednesday marked the second time in three days the storm hit Mexico. A Category 4 hurricane when it hit the Yucatan Peninsula with 135 mph winds Monday, it was a Category 1 storm Wednesday, with maximum sustained winds near 80 mph. The storm was expected to lose hurricane strength later in the day.
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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 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
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
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
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
Tropical Storm Gert dumps heavy rain on Mexico
Now Tropical Storm Gert, a somewhat ragged weather system in the Gulf of Mexico headed toward the same general area of Mexico struck last week by Hurricane Emily.
Forecasters warned that up to 12 inches of rain and potential flooding could pose a threat to life and property along portions of Mexico's Gulf Coast and inland.
They said Gert, the seventh named storm of the young hurricane season, developed from a disturbance they have been watching for days as it approached and then crossed the Yucatán Peninsula.
Though the storm was being inhibited by high-altitude winds
USAID Provides Assistance to Mexico Flood Victims
USAID is providing a total of $100,000 to the Mexican Red Cross and other implementing partners for the local purchase and distribution of emergency relief supplies in response to flooding and damage associated with Hurricane Stan.
On October 6, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Antonio O. Garza, Jr. issued a disaster declaration due to the magnitude of damage caused by the flooding.
On October 4, Hurricane Stan made landfall south of Veracruz, Mexico causing rivers to overflow and widespread flooding in the states of Veracruz, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Tabsco, Puebla, Hidalgo, and Guerrero. The flooding is
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
Crude prices retreat as Hurricane Emily weakens
Crude oil futures declined on Monday amid easing concerns about disruption of production in Mexico due to Hurricane Emily.
The second hurricane of the season has so far missed some oil production facilities in the Gulf of Mexico but had threatened to disrupt output in Venezuela and Mexico itself.
But Emily weakened as it passed Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, to sighs of relief from traders. They had expected worse disruptions just when the global crude market has virtually no spare capacity.
By late morning in New York, West Texas Intermediate for August delivery was trading $1.09 lower
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
