“Grace” has already caused numerous power outages at popular vacation spots in Mexico. Now the tropical cyclone is taking another approach off the east coast of the country.
Xalapa – Before its expected second passage over Mexico, the tropical cyclone “Grace” gained strength and was again upgraded to a hurricane.
According to the US Hurricane Center on Friday, the center of the storm was expected to reach land on Mexico’s east coast in the evening or at night (local time). In the morning it was moving towards the state of Veracruz as a category one of five hurricane with sustained winds of 140 kilometers per hour. In the affected stretch of coast, the preparations to protect life and property should be completed as soon as possible, it said.
“We are concerned that the heavy rains that the eye of the hurricane brings could trigger landslides as it moves inland,” Veracruz governor Cuitláhuac GarcÃa said at a press conference. The state is prone to floods and landslides because of its rivers and mountains. It is likely that “Grace” will initially continue to gain strength over the Gulf of Mexico and then weaken quickly over the mountains of central Mexico, said the hurricane center in Miami.
The storm hit the Mexican Yucatán Peninsula, which is popular with holidaymakers, on Thursday morning (local time). It caused damage and extensive power outages, but people were not harmed. Hotels were evacuated in the beach town of Tulum, and numerous flights were canceled in Cancun. Previously, “Grace” had brought floods on Tuesday night as a tropical storm with winds of around 65 kilometers per hour on Haiti’s south coast, where an earthquake had struck more than 2,000 deaths just three days earlier. The Dominican Republic and Jamaica also clearly felt the storm. dpa
