Cristobal regains tropical storm force, tracks toward to U.S. coast

MEXICO CITY — A storm that appears to be headed for the U.S. Gulf Coast regained tropical storm force on Friday while drenching southern Mexico and Central America.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Tropical Storm Cristobal had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and was moving north at 12 mph. It was expected to cross the Yucatan Peninsula Friday, regain tropical storm strength and eventually track to the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Shortly after midday, it was centered about 35 miles south-southeast of Merida and about 595 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi River.

A tropical storm watch was issued for the northern Gulf of Mexico coast from Intracoastal City Louisiana to the Alabama-Florida border.

Cristobal made landfall in Mexico as a tropical storm Wednesday before weakening. It had formed this week in the Bay of Campeche from the remnants of Tropical Storm Amanda, which had formed last weekend in the eastern Pacific and hit Central America.

The two storms have combined to soak the region with as much as 35 inches of rain in some areas over the past week. At least 30 deaths have been attributed to the two storms and the flooding and landslides they unleashed.

The Hurricane Center’s projected track shows the storm reaching the U.S. Gulf Coast by early Monday, and it said Cristobal could bring heavy rains from East Texas to Florida this weekend and into early next week.

In Bacalar, in the south of Quintana Roo state, 230 families were isolated by the rains and had to be airlifted out, David Leon, Mexico’s national civil defense coordinator, said Friday. Leon added there had been light damage in 75 municipalities in seven states.

In Louisiana, Gov. John Bel Edwards on Thursday declared a state of emergency to prepare for the storm’s possible arrival there.

“Now is the time to make your plans, which should include the traditional emergency items along with masks and hand sanitizer as we continue to battle the coronavirus pandemic,” Edward said in a statement.

AP PHOTOS BY MOISES CASTILLO Rain clouds hover over mountains on May 31 during Tropical Storm Amanda in Barberena, eastern Guatemala. The first tropical storm of the Eastern Pacific season drenched parts of Central America and officials in El Salvador said at least seven people had died in flooding.

A man walks on a bridge over Los Esclavos river during Tropical Storm Amanda in Cuilapa, eastern Guatemala, on May 31.