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Hurricane hits Belize, could reach Mexico oil fields
Source: Agencies |
October 25, 2010, Monday
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HURRICANE Richard struck the tiny Central American nation of Belize yesterday, knocking out electricity as tourists and residents huddled in government shelters.
Richard made landfall just south of Belize City and was expected to weaken to a tropical depression and enter Mexico's main oil producing region in the Bay of Campeche by tomorrow, the US National Hurricane Center said.
"Our windows are shuttered so we can't see anything, but the wind is howling fiercely," said Myrna Harris, who moved all her guests and furniture to the second floor of the hotel she runs in Belize City.
Heavy winds doubled over palm trees on Belize's coast, webcam images showed, and residents called a local radio station to report power outages and plead for help as rivers quickly rose.
Before the storm touched land, hotels across southern Belize sent foreign travelers to inland shelters, the national tourism board said. Workers at some hotels chopped down fruit and coconuts from trees.
"We don't want the fruit to become missiles during the storm," said Rosario Villanueva, a security guard at a hotel in Placencia where guests were evacuated early yesterday.
Richard packed maximum sustained winds of 150 km per hour and will likely power through Belize and southern Mexico to enter the Bay of Campeche, where Mexico produces more than two-thirds of its 2.6 million barrels-per-day of crude output.
Most computer forecasting models appeared to suggest the storm would steer clear of major oil installations in the US Gulf.
Mexico's state oil company, Pemex, said it was watching the storm but had not evacuated any workers from its offshore platforms. The storm would likely not strengthen again once it entered the Gulf, the NHC said.
"We're still operating normally and monitoring (the storm)," a Pemex spokesman said.
In September, Hurricane Karl forced a brief shutdown of 14 minor Mexican wells in the Gulf, with no significant impact on production.
In Belize, an impoverished country of about 330,000 people that will likely bear the brunt of the storm, families left flimsy houses and moved into shelters along the coast, said Noreen Fairweather, coordinator of the country's emergency services organization.
"It could get dicey out there," Fairweather said.
Belize, a former British colony, is a popular destination for foreign tourists who are drawn to its lush jungles, palm-fringed cayes and coral reef.
Richard was a Category 1 hurricane, the lowest rank on the five-step Saffir-Simpson intensity scale.
Further up the Caribbean coast, Mexico evacuated residents from Mayan villages on the Yucatan peninsula where many of the poor live in thatched huts. The storm looked likely to spare the resort city of Cancun.
Richard was the 10th hurricane of the busy 2010 Atlantic storm season. Five of those hurricanes have been major, but the United States has escaped a significant landfall so far.
Richard made landfall just south of Belize City and was expected to weaken to a tropical depression and enter Mexico's main oil producing region in the Bay of Campeche by tomorrow, the US National Hurricane Center said.
"Our windows are shuttered so we can't see anything, but the wind is howling fiercely," said Myrna Harris, who moved all her guests and furniture to the second floor of the hotel she runs in Belize City.
Heavy winds doubled over palm trees on Belize's coast, webcam images showed, and residents called a local radio station to report power outages and plead for help as rivers quickly rose.
Before the storm touched land, hotels across southern Belize sent foreign travelers to inland shelters, the national tourism board said. Workers at some hotels chopped down fruit and coconuts from trees.
"We don't want the fruit to become missiles during the storm," said Rosario Villanueva, a security guard at a hotel in Placencia where guests were evacuated early yesterday.
Richard packed maximum sustained winds of 150 km per hour and will likely power through Belize and southern Mexico to enter the Bay of Campeche, where Mexico produces more than two-thirds of its 2.6 million barrels-per-day of crude output.
Most computer forecasting models appeared to suggest the storm would steer clear of major oil installations in the US Gulf.
Mexico's state oil company, Pemex, said it was watching the storm but had not evacuated any workers from its offshore platforms. The storm would likely not strengthen again once it entered the Gulf, the NHC said.
"We're still operating normally and monitoring (the storm)," a Pemex spokesman said.
In September, Hurricane Karl forced a brief shutdown of 14 minor Mexican wells in the Gulf, with no significant impact on production.
In Belize, an impoverished country of about 330,000 people that will likely bear the brunt of the storm, families left flimsy houses and moved into shelters along the coast, said Noreen Fairweather, coordinator of the country's emergency services organization.
"It could get dicey out there," Fairweather said.
Belize, a former British colony, is a popular destination for foreign tourists who are drawn to its lush jungles, palm-fringed cayes and coral reef.
Richard was a Category 1 hurricane, the lowest rank on the five-step Saffir-Simpson intensity scale.
Further up the Caribbean coast, Mexico evacuated residents from Mayan villages on the Yucatan peninsula where many of the poor live in thatched huts. The storm looked likely to spare the resort city of Cancun.
Richard was the 10th hurricane of the busy 2010 Atlantic storm season. Five of those hurricanes have been major, but the United States has escaped a significant landfall so far.
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