Tropical Storm Karl hits Mexico, some evacuated
CANCUN, Mexico |
CANCUN, Mexico (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Karl hit Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday and was expected to head into the Gulf of Mexico, threatening oil installations and possibly gaining hurricane strength.
Mexico's state-run oil giant Pemex has not yet curtailed any operations but said it would continue to monitor Karl's progress as it approached its vast oil production operations in the Bay of Campeche, in the southern Gulf of Mexico.
Hundreds of people, mostly from Mayan towns and villages, were being evacuated as Karl dumped rain and brought strong winds to the Yucatan, civil protection authorities said.
Majahual, home to a large cruise ship port, and the ecological reserve of Sian Ka'an, near the Mayan ruins of Tulum, were also being affected by the storm.
Karl, the 11th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, had winds of 65 mph with higher gusts. It was expected to cross the Yucatan peninsula on Wednesday and enter the Gulf of Mexico after nightfall.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Karl "is likely to become a hurricane" as it gathers strength in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico on Thursday.
After it moves through the southern Gulf, it is expected to make landfall again at hurricane strength near the Mexican ports of Tampico and Tuxpan by the weekend. Tuxpan is a major oil products import hub.
But Cancun, a top beach destination for U.S. and European tourists, was untouched by the storm, and it was also likely to pass far south of U.S. oil and natural gas platforms in the northern part of the Gulf of Mexico.
A tropical storm warning is in effect for the east coast of the Yucatan peninsula from Chetumal at the Mexico-Belize border northward to Cabo Catoche. This area is known for its white sand beaches and coral reefs.
Karl may bring some coastal flooding as well as large, damaging waves, forecasters said.
Two hurricanes, Igor and Julia, also raced across the Atlantic Ocean but posed no immediate threat to land or energy interests along their projected tracks.
Igor was 1,090 miles southeast of Bermuda and showed signs of weakening overnight but was still a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale with 145 mph winds.
Strengthening overnight, Julia -- 525 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands and moving northwest -- was also a Category 4 hurricane with 132 mph winds. It was farther from land than Igor, a day after developing into the season's fifth hurricane.
(Additional reporting by Cyntia Barrera Diaz, Robert Campbell in Mexico City. Editing by Kieran Murray)
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