08/19/2021 8:52 AM
Clarín.com
World
Updated 08/19/2021 8:58 AM
Hurricane Grace
made landfall early Thursday
in the Mexican Caribbean, just south of the ancient Mayan temples of Tulum, causing a dangerous storm surge.
Torrential rains and strong winds threatened to
destroy the most fragile homes
and prevent tourists from stepping on its white sand beaches as it crossed the Yucatan Peninsula.
The category 1 phenomenon had already unloaded its rains on Haiti - days after a powerful earthquake - Jamaica and the Cayman Islands en route to a direct impact on the Riviera Maya, the heart of Mexico's tourism industry.
An image of Cancun as it prepares for Hurricane Grace.
Photo: REUTER
Grace's vortex made landfall just south of Tulum at 4:45 a.m. with
maximum sustained winds of
80 mph (
130 km / h
), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
The state of Quintana Roo opened shelters and
evacuated some hotels that were
already residents before Grace's arrival.
The meteor dodged Cozumel, a popular cruise destination, and downtown Playa del Carmen, which is often full of music and partying, looked eerily desolate Wednesday night.
The authorities ordered the closure of all businesses and a
curfew from 20:00
.
A business in Cancun prepares for the arrival of Hurricane Grace.
Photo: REUTER
A city prepares
One exception was Axel Félix, a 37-year-old pizza delivery man who did his last delivery of the night in a raincoat.
"Now I'm going home and he doesn't leave until tomorrow," he said.
"You have to take care of yourself and lock yourself in the house."
Another was Juan González, a 25-year-old student who was walking his dog.
"In the house we will all be calm. With food. Waiting to see what happens and with protection on the windows," he said.
With little standing in the way of the peninsula, Grace is expected to weaken slightly before regaining hurricane strength in the Gulf of Mexico to make
landfall in the country again later this week.
The governor of Quintana Roo, Carlos Joaquín González, said that the authorities evacuated hotels that were not prepared to withstand hurricanes and called for the suspension of the sale of alcohol in the region from 5:00 p.m. Some airlines
canceled their flights
to the peninsula.
Faced with the threat of Grace's arrival, a group of tourists decided to leave Cancun.
Photo: REUTER
On Tulum's main avenue, tourists in plastic raincoats walked through puddles as the winds intensified.
On the beach, the tide was rising and bathers sought shelter from the sand blown by the wind.
Armed soldiers and sailors in pickup trucks
patrolled the city streets
.
Businesses began to wall up the windows and queues formed at grocery stores to purchase staples.
"We are taking precautions, making some purchases, such as milk, sugar, water and cookies, because we do not know how long we should be locked up," said Adamaris García, a 21-year-old housewife who was in a line of dozens of people in a small store.
Some tourists worried about a missed day at the beach on their vacation and others were preparing for their
first experience with a hurricane
.
A tourist buys supplies in Cancun in preparation for the arrival of Hurricane Grace.
Photo: AP
Johanna Geys, from Munich, Germany, was having a beer in Tulum on Wednesday afternoon.
It is the first time he has visited Mexico and his first hurricane.
"We don't know what it's like," said Geys, a 28-year-old waitress. People have told her it won't be bad.
As she walked out of a store with some products, Sarah Lynch, a 25-year-old law student in California, said she wasn't overly concerned.
"We have extra water. We are ready for the hurricane and just going to adapt to the storm and see what happens ,
'' Lynch said." It
gives
a little scary because it's unknown
, but otherwise we're fine.
We have survived COVID. ''
To the north, in Cancun, some fishermen moved their boats away from the shore to protect them.
"Last year they grabbed us like this (without preparing) because the information they give is sometimes not correct and sometimes we endure (the storms)," said one of them, Carlos Canché González.
"But I do not think it will get worse. Last year the experience we have, because if it worsens or not, we have to save the team. That is what we live on, we are fishermen for years," he added.
"For one
as a tourist,
this hurricane
is very negative
, because we all have activities scheduled for certain days and that one is canceled because it damages our vacations," said Keny Sifuentes, a 19-year-old Colombian who traveled to Cancun with his family .
State authorities said that, as of last week, the
region was home to about 130,000 tourists
and that hotels were occupied at more than half capacity despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Source: AP
Look also
Tropical Storm Grace became a hurricane and threatens Mexican resorts such as Cancun and the Riviera Maya
Storm Grace dumps rain in Jamaica and Cuba and Henri strengthens in the Atlantic
