Beryl moves over Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula as Texas officials urge coastal residents to prepare

TULUM, Mexico -

Beryl moved over Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Friday after battering the resort town of Tulum and started to emerge into the Gulf of Mexico, prompting Texas officials to urge coastal residents to prepare as the storm headed their way.

Beryl hit Tulum as a Category 2 hurricane and toppled trees but caused no injuries or deaths before weakening to a tropical storm as it moved across the peninsula. The U.S. National Hurricane Center expects the storm to regain hurricane strength in the warm waters of the Gulf and hit south Texas by late Sunday or early Monday.

Beryl, the earliest storm to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic, caused at least 11 deaths as it passed through the Caribbean islands earlier in the week.

• In pictures: Scenes of destruction in powerful Beryl's wake
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The storm's center Friday afternoon was on Mexico's Gulf coast at Progreso, Yucatan, and was 580 miles (935 kilometres) east-southeast of Brownsville, Texas. It was moving west-northwest at 15 m.p.h. (about 24 km/h) with maximum sustained winds of 65 m.p.h. (100 km/h), the hurricane center said.

Once in the Gulf, Beryl could regain wind speed of 90 m.p.h. (150 km/h) before hitting Texas, though it is hard to tell now where it could make landfall, forecasters said. Hurricane watches were in effect from the Rio Grande along the coast to Sargent, just south of Houston, Texas.

Some Texas counties have already issued voluntary evacuation orders in low-lying areas, and Texas officials urged coastal residents to prepare.

Along the Texas coast in Corpus Christi, city officials announced it had distributed 10,000 sandbags in less than two hours Friday, exhausting its supply.

"This is a determined storm that is still strong," Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said at a news conference.

Patrick issued a pre-emptive disaster declaration for 39 counties that allows state and local authorities to start planning and contracting for response.

Nim Kidd, chief of state emergency operations, said oil companies have started moving employees off rigs along the coast that may be in the path of the storm.

Northeastern Mexico and southern Texas were already soaked by Tropical Storm Alberto just a couple of weeks ago.

(U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

Beryl spread destruction in Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Barbados this week. Three people have been reported dead in Grenada, three in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, three in Venezuela and two in Jamaica, officials said.

The head of Mexico's civil defence agency, Laura Velazquez, said Beryl hadn't caused any deaths or injuries there and that "damages were minor," though tens of thousands of people remained without power.

Tulum 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.

After seeing Beryl tear through the Caribbean, 37-year-old Lucía Nagera Balcaza 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."

Before the storm hit Mexico, official had set up shelters in schools and hotels. When 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 evacuated beachside hotels. Sea turtle eggs were even moved off beaches threatened by storm surge.

Tourists also took precautions. Lara Marsters, 54, a therapist visiting Tulum from Boise, Idaho, said she had filled up empty water bottles from the tap.

"We're going to hunker down and stay safe," she said.

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While many in the Yucatan Peninsula took a deep breath, Jamaica and other islands ravaged by the hurricane were still reeling. As of Friday morning, 55 per cent of Jamaica still without electricity and most of the country was without running water, according to government figures.

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness promised swift relief for residents affected by Hurricane Beryl after visiting one of the worst-affected areas of the island, the southern parish of St Elizabeth on Thursday afternoon.

"I know some of you are experiencing discomfort and displacement, and I want to assure you that the government will move as quickly as we can to get you the help you need," he said.

Earlier in the week, 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 2,000-gallon (7,570-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.

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Myers reported from Kingston, Jamaica. Associated Press writers Renloy Trail in Kingston, Jamaica; Mark Stevenson, Maria Verza and Mariana Martinez Barba in Mexico City; Coral Murphy Marcos in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Lucanus Ollivierre in Kingstown, St. Vincent and Grenadines, contributed to this report.