World News – United States – Hurricane Delta moves through Gulf after hitting, but mostly sparing, Mexico

Category 2 storm crossed the Yucatán Peninsula and was expected to reach the US Gulf Coast by Friday No deaths were reported in Mexico

MEXICO CITY – Hurricane Delta made landfall in southeastern Mexico near the tip of the Yucatán Peninsula early Wednesday, cutting power, chopping down trees, shattering windows and causing flooding scattered in towns and villages on the Caribbean coast But regional and federal officials said they had not received any reports of the deaths

The storm struck near the port town of Puerto Morelos, just south of a major Mexican tourist destination, Cancun, around 6:30 a.m.m Eastern Time, with maximum winds estimated at 110 miles per hour, according to US National Hurricane Center By early afternoon, the center of the storm had crossed the peninsula and moved into the Gulf of Mexico, north of Dzilam de Bravo State Reserve

Hurricane #Delta made landfall along the northeastern coast of Mexico near Puerto Morelos around 5.30am CDT with maximum winds estimated at 110mph Latest information on: https: // tco / tW4KeGdBFb picTwittercom / cWKYybKCMi

The hurricane had been downgraded from Category 4, making the hurricane a weaker Category 2 But forecasters predicted the storm would strengthen again as it passed through the warm waters of the southern and central Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday and Thursday before approaching the US Gulf Coast on Friday.

By the end of Wednesday, Delta was moving northwest at about 17 miles per hour with maximum sustained winds of about 90 miles per hour and higher gusts, the National Hurricane Center said.

The governors of Alabama and Louisiana declared a state of emergency on Tuesday, and several coastal areas began mandatory evacuations on Wednesday

College football officials said Wednesday morning that Saturday’s game between Louisiana State University and University of Missouri would be moved from Baton Rouge, La, to Columbia, Mo The Southeastern Conference , whose members include both schools as well as 12 other universities, also left open the possibility that the storm would affect other sporting events in the coming days

In Mexico, Luís Alberto Ortega Vázquez, a senior official with the national civil protection agency, said on Wednesday morning that there had been no immediate reports of deaths from the storm, but said that the authorities had received reports of fallen trees and damage to the power grids of the Yucatán Peninsula

While the impact of the hurricane in Mexico apparently was not as severe as expected when it reached Category 4 status on Tuesday evening, the storm will almost certainly slow the Yucatán Peninsula’s efforts to revive its tourism industry, which has been severely affected by the Coronavirus pandemic

« What we need to do is get back on our feet quickly, » Carlos Orvañanos Rea, spokesman for the state government of Quintana Roo, said in an interview with the news channel on Wednesday. FOROtv wired « We are on the road to economic reactivation »

Visitors to the area breathed a sigh of relief Wednesday as the hurricane inflicted fewer hits than many feared

Luis González, 35, a journalist for musicians, was locked in a hotel in the coastal town of Playa del Carmen, south of Puerto Morelos, as the storm hit the area on Wednesday morning He had traveled to the resort town of Tulum and had planned to return to Mexico City on Tuesday night, but learned Tuesday night that the flight had been canceled

He knew one of the owners of a hotel in Playa del Carmen « where people take shelter in hurricanes, » he said, so he headed to that place Him and other guests had rooms at the back of the hotel, away from the water, and received a buffet dinner and a packed lunch for the morning

Mr. González compared the hurricane to a normal and intense storm with periods marked by « continuous gusts of wind with rain »

Preparations for the storm’s arrival began earlier in the week as the hurricane drew a pearl over Mexico, with activity growing feverish on Tuesday as residents of the Yucatán Peninsula stocked up on groceries, hardware and gasoline, and removed boats from the water and moved them inland.Government officials have ordered non-essential businesses shut down, emergency teams helping to evacuate inhabitants of low-lying coastal areas and islands and relocate them inland

Many hotels along the Caribbean coast – including in popular tourist destinations like Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum – have transferred their guests to shelters

« The most important thing is to take care of everyone’s life so that we don’t lose anyone, » said Carlos Joaquín, governor of the state of Quintana Roo, which borders the Caribbean coast of the peninsula.

Wednesday morning, M Ortega Vázquez, the federal civil protection official, said more than 39,000 people, including residents and tourists, had been evacuated from hotels and homes in the states of Quintana Roo and Yucatán as the storm approached, many seeking refuge in dozens of temporary storms shelters

While the hurricane’s exact track remains uncertain, there is a risk of a dangerous storm surge, wind and rain along the Louisiana coast in the western parts of the Florida Panhandle starting Thursday. evening or friday

Dennis Feltgen, meteorologist and spokesperson for the US National Hurricane Center, said conditions would be ideal for the storm to revert to Category 4 as it traversed the southern Gulf of Mexico and neared the United States as a « major hurricane »

It was a brutal year for hurricanes on the US Gulf Coast, which was badly battered by Laura in September This hurricane caused more than two dozen deaths and extensive property damage

Delta is the sixth named storm to put Louisiana on its potential path While the state has largely avoided the large-scale destruction of Cristobal, Marco, Sally, and Beta, each storm has brought a new wave of storms to the region. ‘evacuations and fear

The process restarted this week Orange Beach, a town in Alabama, offered sandbags to residents on Tuesday, as residents anxiously prepared for evacuations and watched ominous weather forecasts

About four to eight inches of rain is expected in parts of the central Gulf Coast, with as much as 12 inches in some areas, along with flash flooding, the Hurricane Center said.

« People out there should make sure they have their hurricane plan in place, have their supplies and are watching for forecast updates, » M said. Feltgen said « I know there is a lot of hurricane weariness with Laura and Sally so fresh on everyone’s mind, but here we go »

The Hurricane Center has recommended that people monitor the forecast frequently, as storms can quickly slow down, get stronger, or change course, he said

Last month, meteorologists ran out of names after a storm named Wilfred formed in the Atlantic Subtropical Storm Alpha, the first of 24 letters in the Greek alphabet, quickly formed thereafter, becoming the 22nd named storm since May

Forecasters have only used the Greek alphabet once before, in 2005, when meteorologists used six Greek names in a season that saw 28 storms, M Feltgen said

The report was written by Derrick Bryson Taylor and Daniel Victor from London, Marie Fazio and Concepción de León from New York, Mike Ives from Hong Kong and Alan Blinder from Atlanta

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