Mexico prepares for Hurricane Beryl landfall

Tourist resorts in Mexico bracefor the impact of Hurricane Beryl, which is expected to bring ferocious winds and a dangerous storm surge on Friday (July 5) to the Yucatan Peninsula after battering Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

"Situation to soon get worse for the Yucatan Peninsula with hurricane-like winds, storm surge, and damaging waves expected to begin shortly," the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) announced the warning at 01:00 am (0600 GMT) Friday.

Beryl strengthened to a Category 3, is tearing down on tourist destination Tulum with winds of up to 115 miles an hour (185 kilometres an hour) and little change in strength is expected before landfall on Friday, the NHC said.

The storm has left a trail of destruction across the Caribbean and the coast of Venezuela, killing at least seven people.

The schools in the affected areas of Mexico were suspended, and shelters were set up for locals and tourists.

In Cancun, people have been stocking up on food and other essentials for days and hotels have boarded up their windows.

Around 100 domestic and international flights scheduled for Thursday and Friday were canceled at Cancun airport, the main hub in the Mexican Caribbean.

Beryl is expected to hit the Yucatan Peninsula, appear over the Gulf of Mexico, then arrive in the northern state of Tamaulipas, which borders the United States.

Hundreds of tourists were evacuated from hotels along Mexico's coastline while some were still attempting to take buses out of the impact zone.

Record-breaking storm

The Mexican army, which deployed around 8,000 troops in Tulum, announced that it has food supplies and 34,000 liters of purified water to distribute to the population.

The hurricane has caused flash floods and mudslides in the Cayman Islands.

While in Jamaica, more than 400,000 people were left without power, according to the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper.

UN climate chief Simon Stiell, who has family on the island of Carriacou, said climate change is pushing disasters to record-breaking new levels of destruction.

"Disasters on a scale that used to be the stuff of science fiction are becoming meteorological facts, and the climate crisis is the chief culprit," he said on Monday, reporting that his parents' property was damaged.

(With inputs from agencies)