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September 25, 2024 – 05:05
Cancun (Mexico), Sep 24 (EFE).- The northern region of Quintana Roo, in the Mexican Caribbean and one of the country’s main tourist areas, is preparing for the passage of Tropical Storm Helene, which could become a Category 1 hurricane off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in the early hours of Wednesday.
Although air operations remain unchanged, all maritime navigation has been suspended since this afternoon and ships offering passenger crossing services have been sent to safe ports.
The Maya Train, which connects the five states of the Yucatan Peninsula, also announced the suspension of runs between the stations of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Playa del Carmen and Cancun, where heavy rains are expected.
This Tuesday, during the installation of the operational committee in case of hydrometeorological phenomena in Cancun, the governor of Quintana Roo, Mara Lezama, indicated that, based on the most recent forecasts, the eye of tropical storm Helene will not touch Quintana Roo, but heavy rains are expected.
So far, he said, five shelters have been set up in Cancun for residents of low-lying and flood-prone areas.
“According to the cone of approach, according to the phenomenon, what is known so far is that the eye (of the hurricane) does not pass through Quintana Roo, the cloud bands that have come off the phenomenon, which I always say are capricious, are the ones that will bring us rain,” he said.
He added that there is coordination with the hotel sector, since all the hotels in the area serve as ‘self-shelters’, and he also boasted that they have the ‘Guest Assist’ application to assist any tourist in the area.
“We have a meeting with the hotel sector, we are gathered and organized, we have the ‘Guest Assist’ application (…) the vast majority of hotels are self-shelters. It is a tropical storm, which will not pass through the state, all hotels are working normally,” he said.
In recent hours, work has been increased on cleaning absorption wells, cleaning streets and pruning trees in risk areas.
Meanwhile, municipalities in Quintana Roo, such as Cozumel, Puerto Morelos, Benito Juárez, Isla Mujeres, Lázaro Cárdenas, Solidaridad and Tulum, have decided to suspend classes due to the passage of the meteor.
Although isolated, torrential rains have been recorded throughout the afternoon in various parts of the hotel zone and the city, but they are expected to become more intense as tropical storm “Helene” advances.
Even though the red flag remains in place on all beaches from Tulum, Playa del Carmen, Cozumel Island, Isla Mujeres and Cancun, many tourists still brave the waves and strong gusts of wind.
The storm is expected to make landfall in Florida, United States, on Thursday as a Category 3 hurricane, according to the SMN.
This storm is emerging in the Atlantic after Hurricane John, which made landfall on Monday night as a Category 3 storm in the state of Guerrero, southern Mexico, and has so far caused two deaths, damage to roads and cut off municipalities, for which the Mexican government has deployed more than 18,000 agents from the Armed Forces and other agencies.
John is the second cyclone of the Pacific season to make landfall in Mexico, where last week storm Ileana hit the northwestern state of Sinaloa, causing minor damage.
While three cyclones have hit Mexico from the Atlantic: Hurricane Beryl and Storm Chris, which left no deaths in July, and Storm Alberto in June, which left six dead in Nuevo León, a state on Mexico’s northern border. EFE
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