Beryl brings high winds, knocks out power in Mexican coastal resort area

Powerful storm Beryl swirled ashore on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula near the resort town of Tulum on Friday, whipping trees and knocking out power after leaving a trail of destruction and at least 11 dead across the Caribbean region.

Beryl hit Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane but weakened to a tropical storm as it moved across the peninsula. The U.S. National Hurricane Center expects Beryl to regain hurricane strength once it re-emerges into the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, where it is forecast to head toward northern Mexico near the Texas border.

Once in the warm waters of the Gulf, Beryl is forecast to head toward northern Mexico near the Texas border, an area that already was soaked by tropical storm Alberto just a couple of weeks ago.

Beryl spread destruction in Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Barbados in recent days and on Tuesday, became the earliest storm to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic. Three people have been reported dead in Grenada, three in St. Vincent and the Grenadine, three in Venezuela and two in Jamaica, officials said.

After landfall in Mexico, Beryl's maximum wind speeds dropped, but Tulum would continue to see "large and destructive waves," the hurricane centre said. The area would face heavy rainfall and potential flooding in the coming hours, according to forecasts from Mexico's National Water Commission.

Mexican authorities had moved some tourists and residents out of low-lying areas around the Yucatan Peninsula before landfall, but tens of thousands remained to tough out the winds and expected storm surge. Much of the area around Tulum is just a few metres above sea level.

The city was plunged into darkness when the storm knocked out power as it came ashore. Screeching winds set off car alarms across the town.

Wind and rain continued to whip the seaside city and surrounding areas Friday morning. Army brigades roved the streets of the tourist city, clearing fallen trees and power lines.

WATCH | Hurricane Beryl makes landfall in Mexico with 175 km/h winds:

Hurricane Beryl makes landfall in Mexico near Cancun

18 hours ago

Duration 3:42

Beryl has made landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula as a Category 2 hurricane about 10 kilometres northeast of Mexico's Caribbean coast resort of Tulum with maximum sustained winds of 175 km/h.

After seeing Beryl tear through the Caribbean, Lucía Nagera Balcaza, 37, was among those who stocked up on food and hid away in their homes.

"Thank God, we woke up this morning and everything was all right," she said. "The streets are a disaster, but we're out here cleaning up."

No dead or wounded had been reported as of Friday morning, but nearly half of Tulum continued to be without electricity, said Laura Velazquez, national co-ordinator of Mexican Civil Protection.

"Don't go out yet, wait until the hurricane completely passes," said Velazquez, speaking on a video in a morning news briefing.

Once a sleepy, laid-back village, in recent years Tulum has boomed with unrestrained development and now has about 50,000 permanent residents and at least as many tourists on an average day. The resort now has its own international airport.

The storm's centre on Friday morning was about 25 kilometres north-northwest of Tulum and was moving west-northwest at about 26 km/h, the hurricane centre said. Beryl had maximum sustained winds of 140 km/h, making it a Category 1 hurricane.

In Corpus Christi, Texas, where officials are bracing for the chance Beryl could turn northward and bring with it possible coastal flooding, strong winds and dangerous rip currents, the city announced it had distributed 10,000 sandbags in less than two hours on Friday, exhausting its supply. The city had already distributed 14,000 sandbags Wednesday.

Sea turtle eggs moved off beaches

Before the storm hit Mexico, officials had set up shelters in schools and hotels. As the wind began gusting over Tulum's beaches Thursday, officials on four-wheelers with megaphones rolled along the sand telling people to leave and authorities shut down and evacuated beachside hotels. Sea turtle eggs were even moved off beaches threatened by storm surge.

Tourists also took precautions.

"This morning we woke up and just filled all of our empty water bottles with water from the tap and put it in the freezer so we will have water to flush the toilet," said Lara Marsters, 54, a therapist visiting Tulum from Boise, Idaho.

"We expect that the power will go out.… We're going to hunker down and stay safe."

Earlier, the hurricane damaged or destroyed 95 per cent of homes on a pair of islands in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, jumbled fishing boats in Barbados and ripped off roofs and knocked out electricity in Jamaica.

On Union Island, part of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a man who identified himself as Captain Baga described the storm's impact, including how he had filled two 7,500-litre rubber water tanks in preparation.

"I strapped them down securely on six sides; and I watched the wind lift those tanks and take them away — filled with water," he said Thursday. "I'm a sailor and I never believed wind could do what I saw it do, if anyone [had] ever told me wind could do that, I would have told them they lie!"

The island was littered with debris from homes that looked like they had exploded.

Girlyn Williams and Jeremiah Forde were trying to recover what they could Thursday around their home, where only a concrete foundation remained.

They had run from room to room during the storm as different sections of their house were being destroyed. Eventually, they hid in a small space created by a rubber water tank that got wedged between the house and a concrete tank. Williams cut her leg in the scramble and needed six stitches.