After Haiti, Hurricane Grace pummels Mexico’s Caribbean coast
Category 1 Hurricane Grace has moved inland over Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula after sweeping through Haiti and other Caribbean islands this week as a tropical storm.
On Thursday, the hurricane made landfall near Tulum, to the south of Cancun, around 4:45 a.m. and was moving west across the peninsula at 17 mph (28 kmh) with maximum sustained winds up to 75 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
The heavy rains brought by Grace as a tropical storm slowed down the rescue operations for the survivors of the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on Saturday.
Neighboring island Jamaica suffered heavy blow on its banana and plantain industry, and roads were littered with “downed utility poles and fallen trees, homes swamped, vehicles disabled, with sparking electricity wires providing a freakish light show,” according to the island’s Jamaica Gleaner.
Grace, now a hurricane, is expected to pour 4 to 12 inches of rain on central and northern portions of the Yucatan Peninsula, which could escalate to flash flooding and inundated cities, the NHC warned.
A hurricane warning is in effect for Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico from Cancun to Punta Herrero, including Cozumel. Meanwhile, a tropical storm watch is in effect for the Southern coast Cuban province of Pinar del Rio, as well as Isla de la Juventud.
“Grace is expected to continue to weaken as it crosses Yucatan, but re-intensification is expected when the center reaches the Gulf of Mexico,” NHC said.
In a separate Bloomberg report, the town north of where the Hurricane Grace made landfall were “littered with tree branches,” and “some power lines hung limply and strong gusts of wind blew a stinging rain.”
Last week, Tropical Storm Fred has threatened to wreak havoc in the Caribbean region, but it quickly dissipated into a tropical depression late Wednesday. It affected portions of the Dominican Republic, southeastern Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, parts of Haiti and portions of Cuba.