Mexico on red alert as Hurricane Beryl closes in

Jose Cortes and Paola Chiomante | July 5, 2024

Mexico’s top tourist destinations are on red alert as Hurricane Beryl strengthens to a category 3 storm after leaving behind a deadly trail of destruction across several Caribbean islands.

Beryl was packing winds up to 185km/h as it bore down on the Yucatan peninsula’s eastern coast early on Friday, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC), which warned of a dangerous storm surge and damaging waves.

Mexico’s civil protection agency issued a “red alert” and asked people to stay in their homes or at storm shelters as it neared popular coastal tourist spots such as Cozumel, Isla Mujeres, Tulum and Puerto Morelos.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador urged people in the storm’s path to take shelter after the meteorological service forecast heavy to torrential rains that could trigger landslides and flooding.

“No hesitating. Material things can be recovered. The most important thing is life,” the president wrote on social media.

The storm churned past the Cayman Islands earlier on Thursday after belting Jamaica with winds that tore apart buildings and uprooted trees.

Authorities say at least 11 people have died from the storm across Jamaica, Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and in northern Venezuela. 

The toll could rise as communications are restored and more reports come in from islands devastated by flooding and powerful winds.

The entire state of Quintana Roo, home to Mexico’s top tourist destination Cancun, was bracing for the storm, Governor Mara Lezama said in a video posted on X.

“Let’s take all measures of prevention and care because the winds and rains will be felt throughout the state. At this time no one should be away from home,” Lezama said.

At Cancun international airport, at least 100 flights were cancelled on Thursday as tourists scrambled to catch the last ones out.

In nearby Playa del Carmen, police blocked off beach entrances with yellow caution tape to dissuade visitors before Beryl’s arrival.

The unusually fierce, early season hurricane was about 145km east-southeast of the Mexican beach resort of Tulum, according to the NHC.

Earlier on Thursday, officials in the Cayman Islands issued the all clear after the storm spared them the worst.

Beryl had weakened on Thursday after skirting Jamaica’s southern coast late on Wednesday as a powerful category 4 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

Two deaths in Jamaica were related to the storm, Prime Minister Andrew Holness told CBC on Thursday.

Some 70 per cent of the National Water Commission’s 400,000 customers were without water, a company representative said.

Still, most Jamaicans were “giving thanks”, Holness said, after having “escaped the worst”.

Beryl was forecast to dump 10-15cm of rain on Mexico’s Yucatan through Friday, with as much as 25cm in some places.

The hurricane centre expects the storm to weaken rapidly as it crosses the peninsula early on Friday, but is seen getting stronger again when it moves over the Gulf of Mexico.

The storm is expected to move toward northeastern Mexico and southern Texas late in the weekend.

On Thursday, about 3000 tourists were moved from island getaway Isla Mujeres back to the mainland near Cancun, the island’s tourism director Jose Magana said.

Schools in the state of Quintana Roo were closed Thursday and Friday and about 120 storm shelters were opened in the area.

Residents in Tulum lined up at petrol stations to fill their tanks and additional containers, while hotels and tourist complexes removed loose furniture and equipment.

Beryl is the 2024 Atlantic season’s first hurricane and at its peak was the earliest category 5 storm on record.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an “extraordinary” storm season this year, with scientists saying human-caused climate change is fuelling extreme weather.

Mexico’s major oil platforms, most of which are clustered around the southern Gulf of Mexico’s shallow waters, are not expected to be shut down or otherwise affected.