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Cancun. Hurricane Beryl weakened Thursday as it headed toward Mexico, which was completing emergency operations to deal with the storm, which has killed seven people as it moved through the Caribbean.
According to the latest report from the National Hurricane Center (NHC), Beryl weakened on Thursday morning and is now a Category 5, Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 175 km/h and displacement of 30 km/h in the United States.
The hurricane is expected to impact Mexican territory between Thursday evening and early Friday morning.
The storm was 445 kilometers from the tourist resort of Tulum and about two hours from the popular resort of Cancun. It was also far from the Liman Islands and arrived as a Category 3 hurricane.
The Mexican government ordered the suspension of local activities from 4 p.m. in Tulum and the towns of Felipe Carrillo Puerto and José María Morelos in Quintana Roo state, the area primarily affected by the storm.
It also suspended classes in Quintana Roo and neighboring Yucatán state and set up shelters for residents and tourists.
In Cancun, a favorite destination for international tourists, various businesses and hotels covered their windows with wood, while members of the navy walked the streets. In the previous days, residents went to stores to buy groceries and other basic products.
“So far we’re pretty calm, (tourists) have already cancelled several trips,” said Daniel, a taxi driver from Cancun.
Mexico’s Dual Impact
The Mexican government estimates that Beryl will impact the Mexican coast as a Category 1 hurricane and will pass over the Yucatan Peninsula before entering the Gulf of Mexico.
It is expected to gain strength at sea and re-enter Mexican territory in the northern state of Tamaulipas, which borders the United States.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said earlier that contingency plans for the region were also being drawn up.
Beryl is the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, which lasts from early June to late November, and it impressed experts with its strength over the weekend.
The U.S. Meteorological Department temporarily classified it as a Category 5 hurricane, making it the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record.
Scientists believe that climate change, which is causing warmer ocean waters, favors these storms, making them more likely to intensify quickly.
Destruction in the Caribbean
Beryl counted at least seven deaths along the storm’s path, including three in Granada on Monday when the storm made landfall; one in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and three in Venezuela, according to local authorities.
In the Cayman Islands, there were power outages and flooding as the storm passed, while authorities asked people to stay at home, local media reported.
Beryl left more than 400,000 residents without power as it passed through Jamaica on Wednesday.
King Charles III of several Caribbean nations said he was “deeply saddened” by the devastation caused by the storm, according to a statement from Buckingham Palace on Thursday.
Grenada Prime Minister Deacon Mitchell said Carriacou was virtually isolated and homes, telecommunications and fuel facilities had been destroyed.
His counterpart, Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, declared that “90 percent of the houses” on Union Island were destroyed and warned that reconstruction would require a “herculean effort.”
The U.S. Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) warned in late May that four to seven hurricanes of Category 3 or higher could occur this season.
The forecasts are particularly tied to the expected development of the La Nina weather phenomenon and high temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean, NOAA said.
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