Civil defense workers cut down trees that were downed by strong winds caused by Hurricane Beryl’s passage in Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico, on July 5, 2024. Hurricane Beryl made landfall on Friday near the resort town of Tulum on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, packing severe winds, US forecasters said. With maximum sustained winds of 100 mph (160 kph), it is a Category 2 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center, and is less powerful than when Beryl battered Caribbean islands earlier this week. (Photo by Elizabeth Lewis/AFP)
CANCUN, Mexico (AFP) — Hurricane Beryl struck Mexico near the resort town of Tulum on the Yucatan Peninsula on Friday, causing property damage with strong winds but causing no immediate injuries.
The storm hit in the early hours of the morning with winds of up to 175 kilometres per hour, downing trees and light poles and blowing off roof tiles, Mexico’s civil defence agency said.
At least three municipalities in the southeastern state of Quintana Roo lost power, even as Typhoon Beryl’s wind speeds slowed to about 140 kilometers per hour as it moved inland.
“Initial reports suggest there is no loss of life, and that is the most important thing for us,” President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said at a regular news conference.
Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama urged residents to “stay at home” in a video message throughout the night, and classes were canceled in the state.
About 2,200 people were evacuated to dozens of temporary shelters.
“We remain in a state of emergency,” Civil Defense chief Laura Velazquez said, adding that more than 25,600 members of security forces and the CFE power company had been deployed to help rescue residents and repair the damage.
As a precautionary measure, Cancun airport, Mexico’s Caribbean’s largest terminal, canceled 348 flights scheduled between Thursday and Saturday.
The latest report from the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said Beryl had weakened from a Category 2 hurricane to a Category 1 hurricane, weaker than the storm earlier this week that caused devastation in the Caribbean and along the Venezuelan coast and killed at least seven people.
It added that “dangerous hurricane-force winds, storm surge and destructive surf” were expected to continue for “several more hours” in the region, whose Caribbean beaches are visited by millions of tourists each year.
Mexico’s civil defense agency reported on social network X that Beryl would bring “heavy rains, strong winds and high waves in the Yucatan Peninsula.”
Hundreds of tourists were evacuated from hotels along the coast, some of whom tried to board buses to leave the affected area on Thursday.
The Mexican military, which has deployed about 8,000 troops to Tulum, said it had food and 34,000 liters of purified water to distribute to residents.
“After the wind gust passed, people started coming,” said Amailani Ochi, who manages a shelter set up inside the school, where 290 people had taken refuge by Thursday night.
Lucero Gascon, a 67-year-old retiree, told AFP he was grateful for the “great care” shown by the shelter, where he and his dog found safety after being evicted from their apartment.
Virginia Reboller, a Mexican tourist who visited Tulum with her family of three, said her outbound flight was canceled and she “had to pay an extra two nights.”
“We are feeling some fear, but we are confident that people are prepared and know what to do,” she added.
In Cancun, a two-hour drive from Tulum, people stocked up on food and other necessities and hotels boarded up their windows.
Beryl is the first hurricane since NHC records began reaching Category 4 levels in June, and is also the earliest hurricane to reach its highest Category 5 level in July.
It is highly unusual for such a powerful storm to form this early in the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from early June to late November.
Scientists say climate change likely plays a role in the rapid intensification of storms like Beryl, because warmer oceans have more energy for storms to feed on.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), ocean temperatures in the North Atlantic are currently 2 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit (1 to 3 degrees Celsius) warmer than average.
Beryl is forecast to weaken as it swirls northwest across the Yucatan Peninsula, but is expected to “slowly reinvigorate” as it enters the Gulf of Mexico toward the eastern state of Tamaulipas on the Texas border, the NHC said.
“Agencies and authorities in northeast Mexico and along the south and central Texas coast should closely monitor beryl’s movements,” the report warned.
“Hurricane and tropical storm watches will likely be issued for the area later today.”
