Photo: Collected
Hurricane Beryl swirled ashore on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula near the resort town of Tulum as a Category 2 storm early Friday (05 July), whipping trees and knocking out power after leaving a trail of destruction and at least 11 dead across the Caribbean region.
Beryl was expected to rapidly weaken to a tropical storm as it crosses over the peninsula before it re-emerging into the Gulf of Mexico and likely regaining hurricane strength, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Once in the warm waters of the Gulf, Beryl is forecast to head toward northern Mexico near the Texas border, an area that already was soaked by Tropical Storm Alberto just a couple of weeks ago.
Beryl spread destruction in Jamaica, St. Vincent the Grenadines, and Barbados in recent days and on Tuesday became the earliest storm to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic. Three people have been reported dead in Grenada, three in St. Vincent and the Grenadine, three in Venezuela and two in Jamaica, officials said.
After landfall in Mexico on Friday, Beryl’s maximum windspeeds had decreased to 100 mph (160 kph), but Tulum would continue to see “large and destructive waves,” the hurricane centre said.
The area would face heavy rainfall and potential flooding in the coming hours, according to forecasts from Mexico’s National Water Commission.
Messenger/Sourov
