World

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

This NOAA satellite image taken Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2012 at 1:45 a,m, EDT shows a swirl of clouds in the western Caribbean Sea associated with Tropical Storm Ernesto as it approaches the Yucatan Peninsula. Ernesto is expected to strengthen into a hurricane being landfall just north of Belize late Tuesday evening. Clouds in the Southeast are associated with a front is will continue to provide a few thunderstorms in the region Tuesday. (AP PHOTO/WEATHER UNDERGROUND)

Hundreds of tourists evacuated beach resorts along Mexico's Caribbean coast as Hurricane Ernesto closed in for a Tuesday night landfall near Mexico's border with Belize, bringing the threat of powerful winds and torrential rains.

Ernesto strengthened from a tropical storm earlier in the day, and the U.S. National Hurricane Center said it had sustained winds of 85 mph (140 kph) by early evening and was moving west-northwest at 18 mph (30 kph). It was centred about 65 miles (105 kilometres) east of Chetumal.

Rain began falling as early as the afternoon and some streets flooded.

Authorities in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo were moving more than 1,300 tourists from resorts in Mahuahal, Balacar and other spots to Chetumal, a bayside city that was expected to see less rain and wind than the coast. Two cruises ships scheduled to dock on the Riviera Maya put off their arrival.

In the city of Tulum, some 6,000 tourists were sheltering in hotels that authorities said were strong enough to qualify as storm shelters. Authorities also prepared two kindergartens as shelters for up to 220 people, but only 20 people had showed up in the early hours at one.

Cruz Garcia, a tourist guide, came to the shelter with his wife from Punta Allen, a low-lying coastal settlement.

"To be over there is a risk because the tide rises and there could be a disaster," Garcia said, adding that he twice went through strong hurricanes while living in the neighbouring state of Campeche.

Soldiers and police evacuated all 600 residents of Punta Allen, and authorities were preparing for the evacuation of people from other low-lying coastal settlements, said Luis Gamboa of Quintana Roo's Civil Protection office.

The heart of the storm was expected to hit south of the resort areas of Cancun and the Riviera Maya, though strong rain and winds were likely. Officials prepared shelters as a precaution.

Forecasters said that after moving ashore during the night, Ernesto was expected to take about 24 hours to cross the Yucatan Peninsula and enter the southern Gulf of Mexico in an area dotted with offshore oil platforms owned by the state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos. Its predicted course would then take it to Mexico's Gulf coast near the city of Veracruz.

On its way to Yucatan, the storm swirled over open sea parallel to Honduras' northern coast, but officials there said the threat had passed without any damage or injuries.