After slamming into the eastern coast of Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane, Beryl was pushing across the Yucatán Peninsula toward the Gulf of Mexico as a weaker tropical storm, forecasters said on Friday.
Beryl is expected to regain strength over the gulf and to reach hurricane strength again at the weekend, with sustained wind speeds of at least 119 kilometres per hour, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
The hurricane is then expected to make its second landfall in Mexico, where it is on track to strike the country's north-east, and hit the US state of Texas, too.
Strong winds, heavy rainfall and dangerous storm surges battered the Yucatán tourist resorts of Cancún and Tulum, where more than 340,000 holidaymakers are staying.
The governor of the state of Quintana Roo, Mara Lezama, called on locals and tourists to get to safety, remain calm and stay away from windows.
Outgoing Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador also urged caution. "Material things can be repaired," he wrote on the social media platform X, adding: "The most important thing is life."
Beryl made landfall on Monday in the south-eastern Caribbean islands of Carriacou, with around 6,000 inhabitants, and Petite Martinique, with about 900. Both belong to Grenada.
According to Grenada's National Disaster Management Agency, 98% of buildings on the two islands were damaged or destroyed.
According to media reports, at least 11 people died as Beryl crashed through Grenada, northern Venezuela and St Vincent and the Grenadines, while also brushing Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.
The hurricane season begins in the Atlantic on June 1 and ends on November 30. Beryl is the first hurricane of the season, and the strongest storm ever recorded in July.
Experts say climate change is increasing the likelihood of stronger storms.
