Hurricane Beryl is Heading Towards the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico
Satellite image of Hurricane Beryl as it passes through the Caribbean, July 2, 2024. Photo: X/ @weatherjamaica
July 3, 2024 Hour: 8:54 am
In May, scientists predicted that 5 out of 41 cyclones that could form in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans would impact this country.
On Tuesday, the National Meteorological Service (SMN) reported that the center of Hurricane Beryl, a Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, continues its west-northwest movement toward the Yucatan Peninsula.
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At 6:00 PM local time, Beryl was located 580 kilometers east-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and 1,695 km east-southeast of Cancun, Quintana Roo. Additionally, it presents maximum sustained winds of 240 km/h with gusts of 295 km/h and is moving west-northwest at 35 km/h.
Given these conditions, the Mexican meteorological service, in coordination with the United States National Hurricane Center, established a hurricane watch zone from Cabo Catoche to Chetumal, Quintana Roo.
“For the moment, the system does not affect Mexican coasts… however, according to its trajectory, it is expected that starting Thursday, Beryl’s cloud bands will cause heavy to torrential rains, strong wind gusts, and high waves in the Yucatán Peninsula,” the SMN said.
Previously, on Monday, Mexican meteorologists warned of a double impact from Beryl in their country, where the hurricane would make landfall between Thursday and Friday in Quintana Roo, the country’s largest tourist state. Between Sunday and Monday, Beryl would reach the state of Veracruz.
On Tuesday, Mexico’s president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), criticized the “sensationalism” surrounding Hurricane Beryl, which reached Category 5 on Monday, the most intense cyclone for this early stage of the Atlantic hurricane season.
“You will never be left helpless. However, do not get upset because there will be a lot of sensationalism and too much exaggerated information about the hurricane,” he asked the inhabitants of the Mexican Caribbean.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) noted that Beryl, which has so far left four dead in the Caribbean islands, sets an alarming precedent as never before has a maximum intensity cyclone formed at this time of year in the Atlantic.
In the current Atlantic hurricane season, Mexico has received two tropical storms. The first was Alberto, which on June 20 left six dead in the state of Nuevo Leon and caused damage and flooding in Monterrey, Mexico’s second most populated city. The second hurricane was Chris, which made landfall in the early hours of July 1 in the state of Veracruz.
In May, Mexican scientists predicted that 5 out of 41 cyclones that could form in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans would impact the country.
On Wednesday, Ralph Gonsalves, the prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, posted on social media a video of his visit to the areas most affected by the hurricane in Union Island, Conouan, Mayreau, and Palm Island. He noted sadly that the landscape looked like a “field of devastation” where only a few buildings remain standing. “There is a sense of shock among people,” Gonsalves concluded.
Autor: teleSUR/ JF
Fuente: EFE
