'Grace' becomes a hurricane and approaches the Yucatan peninsula

Men walk next to a house destroyed during the passage of the storm 'Grace', this Tuesday, in Haiti.Orlando Barría / EFE

Tropical Storm

It has become a hurricane as it passed through the Cayman Islands this Wednesday, as reported by the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC, for its acronym in English).

Meteorologists have announced that "hurricane conditions and a dangerous storm surge are expected" in the Yucatan peninsula, in eastern Mexico, starting this Wednesday night or Thursday morning.

"Precautions to protect life and property must be completed promptly," the NHC warned in a report.

Grace has become a hurricane over the northwestern Caribbean Sea and is headed toward the Yucatan Peninsula.

Here are the 11 am AST Key Messages.

For details on Hurricane #Grace, visit https://t.co/tW4KeFW0gB pic.twitter.com/VrGuOEl0ki

- National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) August 18, 2021

Grace

began to hit the Cayman Islands on Wednesday with heavy rains and maximum winds of up to 100 kilometers per hour after passing through Haiti. Despite the fact that the phenomenon moved away from Hispaniola (the island that Haiti and the Dominican Republic share) this Tuesday, the waves and strong winds have persisted and may affect search and rescue efforts in the country after the magnitude 7 earthquake. , 2 that affected the country on Saturday and left at least 1,941 dead, according to still provisional government data. The NHC indicated that, at eight o'clock in the morning of this Wednesday, the storm was already located 30 kilometers southeast of Grand Cayman Island and about 650 kilometers east of Tulum, in Mexico.

The area where the phenomenon could impact in the Yucatan Peninsula, according to meteorologists, comprises about 200 kilometers that go from Cabo Catoche to Punta Allen, in the State of Quintana Roo. The NHC has warned in its latest report that strong winds and rains could reach the State of Veracruz and cause flooding and landslides. Scientists have predicted that "there is an increasing risk" that conditions will worsen as of Friday night in eastern Mexico.

Grace

began to drift away from Haiti on Tuesday. Although it had weakened to a tropical depression in its passage through the Caribbean, this Tuesday it evolved into a tropical storm and now a hurricane. The phenomenon, the seventh of these characteristics in the current Atlantic Ocean hurricane season, has left heavy rains and winds in Haiti, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and parts of Cuba.

Tropical Storm

is also active in the Atlantic and

has been moving away from the Bermuda Islands with a slow westward movement and maximum sustained winds of 100 kilometers per hour.

According to scientists, for now it does not pose a threat to the inhabitants of that area.

The NHC, however, has warned that it could become a hurricane in the open waters of the Atlantic at the weekend.

Its trajectory, according to predictions, passes near the north of the east coast of the United States and parts of Canada.

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