Beryl pushes toward Mexico's Yucatan with hurricane winds

Hurricane Beryl is barreling toward Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula as local authorities move to evacuate residents from communities along the storm’s path ahead of an expected landfall as early as Thursday night.

Beryl is about 180 miles (290 kilometers) east of Tulum, Mexico, and is carrying maximum sustained winds near 110 miles an hour, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Thursday in its latest bulletin. The storm is expected to slowly weaken before making landfall in the Yucatan, bringing strong winds, a dangerous storm surge and damaging waves. Hurricane warnings are in effect along an area dubbed the Mayan Riviera for its touristy beaches and ruins, with alerts stretching from Costa Maya port to Cancun, including the island of Cozumel.

The storm could make landfall in Tulum as a Category 2 storm between 11 p.m. Thursday and 2 a.m. Friday local time, according to Mexican authorities. Torrential rains, strong winds and crashing surf are expected to rake the region, according to the National Meteorological Service of Mexico.

The Tulum airport suspended operations and Cancun’s airport has also canceled flights, according to local media outlet El Universal. School was canceled in the states of Yucatan and Quintana Roo, said Laura Velázquez Alzúa, Mexico’s national coordinator for civil protection, speaking via video in a Thursday press conference.

Mexican authorities are evacuating communities in the storm’s path and building temporary shelters, according to a government statement. Beryl is forecast to continue across the southwestern Gulf of Mexico Friday night and then churn northwest across the gulf on Saturday. Beryl is expected to make landfall again on Sunday or Monday near Tamaulipas state, Velázquez said in the statement.

Beryl has already left a trail of destruction through the Caribbean, and earlier this week its winds topped the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, achieving a rare Category 5 strength. It was the earliest Atlantic storm to do so, signaling an unusually active hurricane season as hot ocean waters fuel tropical systems. The storm weakened after sweeping westward past Grenada and Jamaica, but still left behind widespread damage.

Clean up and recovery efforts began in Jamaica on Thursday after Beryl churned just south of the island, causing widespread damage, at least one death and knocking out power to about 60% of the population. The country’s airports are being evaluated to see when they can be reopened, but the Jamaica Observer reported that a small section of the roof at Norman Manley International Airport had been damaged.

The government of the Cayman Islands lifted its hurricane warning as Beryl passed earlier Thursday. The Royal Navy warship HMS Trent will be arriving at the British Overseas Territory this weekend with bottled water and emergency supplies, but all indications suggests the Caymans were spared the worst of the storm.

Meanwhile, the threat to Gulf of Mexico oil and gas production is diminishing as the path of the storm spares major drilling areas and platforms in U.S. federal waters, according to data from the hurricane center and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. Major platforms platforms including Exxon Mobil Corp.’s Hoover, Occidental Petroleum Corp.’s Boomvang and Shell Plc’s Perdido that were in the path Wednesday are now clear.

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(With assistance from Robert Tuttle, Brian K. Sullivan, Maya Averbuch and Dan Murtaugh.)

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