Tropical Storm Franklin heads to Yucatan
MEXICO CITY — Mexican authorities set up shelters, cleared storm drains and evacuated lowlying areas on the Caribbean coast Monday as Tropical Storm Franklin bore down for an expected nighttime landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Franklin had top sustained winds of 60 mph Monday evening as it swirled over the northwestern Caribbean.
Some areas could see as much as 12 inches of rain, raising the possibility of dangerous flooding, officials said.
Franklin also is expected to inundate the coast with high storm surge, forecasters said, that could raise seas between and two and four feet above ground level in places.
It was moving west-northwest at 13 mph and was centered about 120 miles east of Chetumal, capital of Quintana Roo state.
A hurricane hunter plane sent to investigate the storm Monday afternoon found the storm had a well-defined but broad core, hinting that it was unlikely to undergo the kind of rapid intensification characteristic of smaller storms. Still, they warned that it could pick up enough steam crossing the warm Caribbean to become a weak hurricane by landfall.
The Quintana Roo state government was moving people from the most vulnerable coastal communities, Adrian Martinez, coordinator for the state’s Civil Protection agency, told Milenio television.
Shelters were being readied in the area, with one specifically designated for the residents of Mahahual, a popular beach destination.
Officials also urged all businesses to begin closing at 6 p.m. and gas stations to shut down beginning at 8 p.m.
Earlier, the state government said the Chetumal airport near the border with Belize would close at 6 p.m., but Martinez said it might be kept open a few hours longer.
Franklin was expected to come ashore sometime Monday night, possibly near hurricane strength, then cross over the peninsula into the Gulf of Campeche by Tuesday on a path toward central Mexico.
A hurricane watch was in effect for the coast of Mexico from Chetumal to Punta Allen.