MEXICO CITY.– He hurricane Beryl made landfall on Friday morning in Mexico reaching the Yucatan Peninsula, northeast of the tourist town of Tulum, leaving behind a trail of destruction and seven dead in its path through the Caribbean.
Mexico’s National Civil Protection Authority has declared a red alert, which implies maximum danger, for the states of Quintana Roo and Yucatan.
Beryl made landfall in a coastal town two hours from the popular resort of Cancun in the state of Quintana Roo. “Please stay home,” Governor Maria Lezama warned in a video released Thursday night.
The latest bulletin issued at 12:00 GMT by the US National Hurricane Center (NHC), based in Miami, states that the hurricane is unleashing winds with peaks of 160 km/h.
Mexico’s weather service classified it as Category 2 on a scale of 5, with winds of 175 km/h and peaks of 220 km/h.
Mexico’s National Civil Protection Coordination stated on social media X that Beryl will bring “intense, sometimes torrential rains, strong winds and high waves to the Yucatan Peninsula.”
The NHC also warned that hurricane-force winds, storm surge and strong waves are expected in Yucatan.
Warnings and evacuations
Hundreds of tourists were evacuated from the region and authorities asked the population to seek shelter in higher areas.
The growing force of the wind and rain alerted residents of Tulum, who began filling shelters, Amairani Och, head of one of the shelters set up in a school that already served 290 people, told AFP.
“After the gust of wind passed, people started arriving and we are trying to get them in because the other schools are already full,” said Och.
The shelter also accepts pets. Lucero Gazcón, a 67-year-old retiree, thanked the shelter for its “wonderful attention” where she was able to take shelter with her dog after leaving her apartment.
“I was alone, it’s a very large building (…), yes, I was scared. I’ve experienced tremors and earthquakes, but I’ve never experienced hurricanes,” said Gazcón.
Beryl is the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, which runs from early June to late November, and has impressed experts with its intensity.
The US meteorological services classified it as a Category 5 during its trajectory, making it the earliest of this power on record.
Scientists believe that climate change, which is causing warmer waters, is contributing to these storms and increasing the likelihood that they will intensify rapidly.
Emergency deployment
In a message on the X network, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador urged people to move to “higher areas” to avoid risks.
“Let us not hesitate, material things will be recovered. The most important thing is life,” he added.
In Tulum, a municipality of 47,000 inhabitants, the government ordered the suspension of activities from Thursday afternoon. The population protected their businesses with wooden boards and supermarkets closed. The airport suspended its operations.
Many tourists were evacuated from hotels along the coastline and others tried to leave the impact zone by bus.
Nearly 100 domestic and international flights scheduled between Thursday and Friday were cancelled at Cancun airport, the main airport in the Mexican Caribbean.
The army deployed some 8,000 troops in Tulum and announced that it has provisions and 34,000 liters of purified water for the population.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) warned in May that the hurricane season is shaping up to be extraordinary, with the possibility of four to seven Category 3 hurricanes or higher.
Source: With information from AFP
