Tropical Storm Grace has turned into a hurricane and threatens Mexican resorts such as Cancun and the Riviera Maya

Tropical Storm Grace became this Wednesday hurricane and travels across the Caribbean to the coasts of Mexico, where resorts such as Cancun, the Riviera Maya and Tulum extreme preventive measures because his arrival is scheduled for Thursday morning.

According to the National Hurricane Center in the United States, in the closing hours of this Wednesday, Grace recorded sustained winds of 130 km / h and it was 275 kilometers east of the spa town of Tulum.

“Grace is supposed to bring strong winds and dangerous surf in the eastern parts of the Yucatán Peninsula, ”the NHC detailed.

Hurricane will make landfall in Tulum on Thursday morning and it will move over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico late that day or early Friday.

The NHC predicts that hurricane get even stronger before its center reached eastern Mexico.

As, 124 flights were canceled at Cancun airport, as confirmed by its mayor Mara Lezama, who also called on Twitter to take precautions and warned that the neighborhood was entering red “maximum danger” alert.

A few hours earlier, the Mexican Ministry of Communications and Transport said in a statement that it was “foreseeable that there are more flights concerned” by the meteorological phenomenon.

In the state of Quintana Roo, with a wide coastline on the Caribbean and home to the country’s largest tourist destinations, traders have walled up the windows of their businesses and fishermen and tour operators kept their boats ashore.

Moreover, they seemed queues of people in grocery stores buy commodities.

“We take precautions, do some shopping, like milk, sugar, water and cookies, because we don’t know how long we should be locked upsaid Adamaris García, a 21-year-old housewife who stood in line with dozens of people at a small business.

Meanwhile, some tourists were worried about a wasted day at the beach while on vacation, and others were preparing for their first hurricane experience.

The state government has issued an orange, high danger alert in five municipalities, including Tulum, and yellow, moderate danger, in six others.

Likewise, it will protect the most vulnerable population of coastal communities from 85 inns installed by the national civil protection system.

Grace is expected to weaken as its center crosses the Yucatan Peninsula, but will regain strength once it reaches the southwestern Gulf on Friday.

After crossing Gulf waters, Grace would make landfall again early Saturday near the border of the states of Veracruz and Tamaulipas in eastern Mexico.

Wrecks in Jamaica

Grace transformed into the second hurricane of 2021 in the Atlantic basin, gone through Jamaica floods, falling trees, utility poles and road blockades.

Jamaican officials have reported that the heavy rains that were recorded on the Caribbean island for much of Tuesday and early Wednesday morning also caused power outages and many motorists stranded in different roads of the country.

Heavy rains caused flooding near Tinson Pen airfield in the Saint Andrew district in the southwest of the island, where footage of people with knee-deep water.

In the capital, Kingston, some motorists have had to deviate from their route due to fallen trees and utility lines blocking the roads.

The Office for Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management reported blocked roads in different areas of the geography of the Caribbean island.

Many communities in Jamaica were without power for most of the day on Tuesday, as Grace hit the island with rain and strong gusts of wind.

With information from the AP, AFP and EFE.