CANCUN/CHETUMAL, Mexico (Reuters) – Ernesto strengthened into a hurricane yesterday just hours before it was predicted to make landfall on the southern part of the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico, home to popular tourist destinations.
Ernesto had top sustained winds of 80 miles per hour (130 km per hour) and was located 140 miles (225 km) east of Chetumal, Mexico, the US National Hurricane Center in Miami said in its 5 pm EDT (2100 GMT) advisory.
By mid-afternoon Chetu-mal’s working class neighborhood of Lazaro Cardenas was flooded with five inches (15 cm) of water, but many residents said they preferred to stay in their cinder block and wood homes.
“This is normal. It is not the first time that a hurricane has come through here,” said Carmen Salis, 19, standing outside her house.
Ernesto is forecast to arrive in the southern Gulf of Mexico, where state oil company Pemex has port facilities and offshore platforms, late today. Pemex has said it was keeping an eye on the hurricane but there were no reports of evacuations or shipping restrictions.
Earlier yesterday, authorities from the Mexican state of Quintana Roo ordered the evacuation of some 1,500 people in the southern portion of the state, known for its scuba diving and eco-tourism attractions.
