TULUM: Beryl weakened to a tropical storm on Friday after hitting Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane, with fierce winds causing material damage but no injuries along the touristic Yucatan Peninsula.

Now headed for the Gulf of Mexico, Beryl is expected to intensify as it moves toward northeastern Mexico and the US state of Texas by the end of the weekend, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC).

After tearing through the Caribbean and coastal Venezuela leaving seven people dead, the storm hit southeast Mexico early Friday with winds of up to 175 kilometres (108 miles) per hour.

It flattened trees and lampposts and ripped off roof tiles, according to Mexico’s civil protection authority. Electricity was lost in at least three municipalities in the southeastern Quintana Roo state as Beryl moved deeper inland and weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm.

“On the initial reports, there appears to be no loss of life, and that is what matters most to us,” President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in his daily press briefing.

Mexico’s emergency authorities later told reporters there were no injuries or deaths, nor damage to critical infrastructure such as roads and the water system.

Electricity had been 70 per cent restored and would be fully recovered by Sunday, civil protection chief Laura Velazquez said. About 2,200 people had sought cover at temporary shelters and more than 25,600 security force members and employees of the CFE electricity agency were deployed to help residents and repair damage.

As a precaution, 348 flights were cancelled at Cancun airport, the largest terminal in the Mexican Caribbean. By Friday afternoon, state governor Mara Lezama said the airport had resumed service.

Published in Dawn, July 7th, 2024