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Hurricane Emily Hits Mexico's Yucatan, Leaving 2 Dead

Posted on: Tuesday, 19 July 2005, 09:00 CDT

Hurricane Emily hits Mexico's Yucatan, leaving 2 dead

MEXICO CITY, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Hurricane Emily has left the Yucatan Peninsula in east Mexico, leaving two dead and about 74,000 evacuated in it's wake, meteorologists said Monday.

Emily "will gain force again" in the Gulf of Mexico and re-enter Mexico Wednesday in northeast Mexico's Tamaulipas state, the National Hurricane Center of Miami, United States, said.

Authorities have already declared a "yellow alert" in Tamaulipas, which represents a moderate danger. The ports in the state also have been closed to big vessels.

Hurricane Emily slammed into the Yucatan Peninsula on Monday, smashing hotels and homes in the resort areas and stopping all of Mexico's oil exports.

Two pilots of a private firm died Saturday while helping evacuate personnel from the oil rigs of state-run oil firm PEMEX, local reports said.

Before reaching Yucatan, Emily killed four in Jamaica, six in Haiti and one in Grenada.

The Yucatan authorities said the hurricane, upon leaving the state, diminished its intensity from category five to category one on the Saffir Simpson scale.

In the tourist resort of Cancun in Yucatan, authorities announced on Monday that they will be able to re-open the international airport shortly.

Tourists camped outside five-start hotels Monday in the world- famous seaside resort of Cancun, were desperately seeking a way to get back home after Hurricane Emily.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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