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Hurricane Beryl hit Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula as a powerful Category 2 storm early Friday morning, with forecasters warning of damaging winds, storm surges up to three feet, life-threatening waves and rip currents.
Yucatan Civil Protection Department Certain The storm made landfall north of Tulum at 7:05 a.m. ET with maximum sustained winds of 108 mph and gusts of 136 mph.
Hurricane Beryl is expected to weaken as it moves over the northeastern Yucatan Peninsula, where it is expected to remain for the next few hours. Its center is expected to pass over the northern Yucatan Peninsula on Friday before moving over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico overnight. It could slowly strengthen as it makes its way toward the Gulf Coast of Mexico and possibly southern Texas.
The storm remained on the northern side of the forecast track, increasing the chance of it making landfall in Texas.
Earlier, the National Hurricane Center said Beryl had weakened from a Category 3 storm to a powerful Category 2 storm early Friday morning, but warned it carried widespread and dangerous risks.
The center added that “preparations must be completed quickly to protect lives and property.”
The hurricane has already killed nine people in Venezuela, Jamaica, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It has also caused extensive damage to several homes in Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, officials there said.
By 3 a.m. EST, Beryl was 77 miles west of the Yucatan Peninsula, according to the Yucatan Department of Civil Protection. The peninsula is under a hurricane warning and the storm is expected to emerge in the Gulf of Mexico by Friday night. By 11 a.m. EST, the hurricane was 100 miles east of Progreso, Mexico, on the northern coast of the Yucatan with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph and higher gusts, according to the National Hurricane Center. Beryl is moving west at 16 mph.
Up to 10 inches of rain is expected with some flash flooding possible across the peninsula.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the hurricane was expected to reach Tulum and urged people to move to higher ground or seek shelter elsewhere.
“Don’t hesitate, material things can be restored, but what is more important is life.” He said on X On Thursday night.
The storm weakened to a Category 2 on Thursday, but later strengthened to a Category 3, and by 10 p.m. had maximum sustained winds of 115 mph.
Hurricane warnings covered the eastern coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula from The hurricane center said the storm would extend from Punta Allen to Cancun, including the island of Cozumel.
“There is an increased risk of strong winds, storm surges and heavy rains across portions of northeastern Mexico and southern Texas late this week,” the National Hurricane Center said.
Beryl’s formation and power set records. Scientists say rapid condensation is becoming more common. As sea surface temperatures rise due to climate change.
It was the first Category 4 hurricane ever to form in June, and the earliest Category 4 storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. Prior to Beryl, the earliest was Hurricane Dennis, which formed on July 8, 2005.
When Beryl strengthened to a Category 5 storm with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph this week, it became the strongest hurricane ever recorded in July.
American tourists in Mexico are waiting to arrive, hoping that the storm’s damage will not be as bad as expected, while flights to and from the region remain canceled.
Stay and Wallace Hall of Fort Worth, Texas, are staying at an all-inclusive resort in Cancun, just 40 miles north of Tulum, where Hurricane Beryl is expected to make landfall early Friday.
“The wind is starting to pick up a little,” Stay Hall said. NBC Dallas-Fort Worth Thursday“They started removing some of the light poles, they started removing some of the shacks from the beaches.”
“We are worried about the hurricane, not just for us, but for all the travelers. We just want to get home safely and pray for everyone, but we are stuck here,” Anita Lewis, a tourist from Dallas, Texas, told Reuters.
Anyone stuck at a resort looking for a stiff drink to calm their nerves while Beryl passes overhead may be disappointed: The Halls said their hotel has stopped serving alcohol by order of the Mexican government.
“I just realized I had no control over myself,” Stay-Hall said. “I went into prayer mode. We’d go to the buffet, get some snacks, some fruit, maybe play some games and just try to pretend nothing happened.”
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