(Reuters) -Hurricane Lisa will strike coastal Belize Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) predicted, edging very close to the country’s barrier reef before it moves across northern Guatemala and southeastern Mexico.
Weather models show Lisa’s heavy rains and dangerous winds likely targeting some top tourist destinations in Belize, Guatemala and Mexico’s Caribbean-facing Yucatan Peninsula, dotted by beach resorts, pristine coral reefs and Mayan ruins.
The Category 1 hurricane was about 35 miles (60 km) east-southeast of Belize City, a major port, packing maximum sustained winds of 80 miles per hour (130 km per hour), the Miami-based NHC said in a bulletin.
It added that a powerful storm surge there could lift tides some four to seven feet (one to two meters) above normal levels.
Belize’s national emergency organization said borders would close at 2 p.m. (2000 GMT), with ports and airports shuttering.
It said shelters were available across the country and advised people living in low-lying areas or vulnerable coastal communities to move to safety.
President Alejandro Giammattei of neighboring Guatemala told a news conference food rations were being sent to vulnerable areas.
Though Lisa was expected to weaken when it entered Belize, Giammattei said damage was expected in Guatemala’s Maya biosphere reserve, a stretch of protected rainforest home to rich fauna and many ancient cities under excavation.
Guatemala’s disaster agency Conred said earlier that floods had hit Melchor de Menchos, the main border crossing with Belize, affecting 95 people and inflicting “moderate damage” on 19 homes.
Honduras fire chief Wilmer Guerrero told Reuters Lisa had not caused damage when it passed over Honduras’ Bay Islands, while its largest island, Roatan, suspended a state of emergency there.
The NHC also warned of hurricane conditions between the Mexican city of Chetumal and Costa Maya, one of the country’s most popular cruise ports, though its tropical storm warning did not stretch as far north as Tulum.
Mexico’s national meteorological service forecast however heavy rains and thunderstorms over parts of the Yucatan Peninsula, with strong winds battering Quintana Roo, home to popular tourist spots such as Cancun and Cozumel.
(Reporting by Enrique Garcia in Guatemala City, Gustavo Palencia in Tegucipalpa and Sarah Morland in Mexico City; Additional reporting by Brijesh Patel and Kavya Guduru in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Diane Craft and Mark Heinrich)
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