Mexico City, July 5 (IANS) Hurricane Beryl restrengthened to a Category 3 storm and is heading towards Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, a tourism hotspot in the country, after leaving a trail of destruction across the eastern Caribbean.
“Data from the Air Force reconnaissance aircraft indicate that Beryl has strengthened to a Category 3 hurricane with maximum winds of 115 mph (185 km/h),” the US National Hurricane Center said in an advisory on Thursday night.
Beryl was downgraded to Category 2 earlier in the day, Xinhua news agency reported.
Beryl was expected to bring heavy rain and winds to the Yucatan Peninsula, a major tourism destination that includes the Mayan pyramids and resorts, and to restrengthen in the Gulf of Mexico to make a second strike on the country.
On Thursday, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador urged people to move to higher ground, shelters, or homes of friends and family in other places.
He wrote on social media that Hurricane Beryl’s trajectory indicates that it will enter through Tulum, a town on Mexico’s Caribbean coastline. “Do not hesitate; materials can be recovered. The most important thing is life.”
So far, the hurricane has killed several people in the Caribbean, including three in Grenada, which comprises a central island and several smaller surrounding islands.
Meanwhile, at least two people died, and five are missing in Venezuela due to the storm, which impacted 25,000 people.
–IANS
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