Tropical Storm Alex weakened slightly after it made landfall in Belize, but continued to produce gusting winds and heavy rain, the US National Hurricane Center said yesterday.
The storm was not an imminent threat to oil-siphoning efforts at BP’s blown-out Macondo well in the Gulf, the US Coast Guard said.
Forecasts projected that Alex would emerge in the southern Gulf of Mexico yesterday and make landfall again as a minimal hurricane later in the week between Brownsville, Texas, and Tuxpan de Rodriguez Cano, Mexico, sparing BP spill collection efforts.
Alex, the first named storm of this year’s Atlantic hurricane season, had sustained winds of nearly 65km per hour and was located about 90km southwest of Chetumal, Mexico.
The storm was expected to slow down as it moved over Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula overnight, the Miami-based center said at 2am.
In Chetumal, the capital of the state of Quintana Roo across the border with Belize, streets emptied in anticipation of the heavy rains and strong winds expected yesterday.
On Saturday, Quintana Roo state authorities evacuated 200 people from fishing villages across the Chinchorro reef, near Belize and Xcalak, famous for its diving spots.
Some rain fell over Cancun, a major seaside resort that draws US and European visitors, but there was no threat to some 35,000 tourists in the area, civil protection authorities said.
Alex was moving west-northwest at 19kph but its speed was expected to decrease as it moved over land.
“Strengthening is forecast on Sunday night and Monday after Alex moves over the southern Gulf of Mexico,” the center said.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for the coast of Belize and the east coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula from Chetumal to Cancun. The hurricane center said the warning would likely be lifted late yesterday.
Tropical storm-force winds were still being felt off the east coast of Belize from near Belize City northeast to Ambergris Cay and Cayo Norte, Mexico, according to the center.
Alex was expected to bring 10 to 20cm of rain to the Yucatan Peninsula, southern Mexico, northern Guatemala, Honduras and Belize up to this morning. Isolated amounts of up to 38cm were possible over mountainous areas.
“These rains could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides,” according to the center.
The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 and meteorologists predict this year will be very active. Hurricanes feed on warm water and the sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic are higher than usual this year.
In the Pacific, hurricanes Darby and Celia weakened to tropical storms as they continued to dissipate.
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