Tropical Storm Franklin dumps rain across Mexico’s Yucatan.
MEXICO CITY — A weakened Tropical Storm Franklin crossed over Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Tuesday and headed into the lower Gulf of Mexico for a predicted landfall on the coast of central Mexico this week.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the storm’s center was 40 miles north-northeast of Campeche late in the afternoon and was moving west-northwest at 12 mph Tuesday afternoon.
The storm continued to batter the Yucatan Peninsula and Belize with winds that extended up to 140 miles from the storm’s center. Franklin’s maximum sustained winds had slowed to 40 mph after it came ashore overnight.
Further strengthening is expected Wednesday when it gets into the warm waters of the Gulf as it heads toward the Mexican coastline for a second landfall sometime early Thursday as a Category 1 hurricane.
It is expected to hit the Mexican coast between Tampico and Veracruz by Thursday night.
Mexico Civil Protection director Ricardo de la Cruz said that the initial impact on Yucatan’s Caribbean coast was not as bad as initially feared. Trees were down and power was out in some areas, he said.
“The second impact could even be stronger than the first,” De la Cruz warned.
Franklin’s rains posed the threat of flash floods and mudslides in the mountains of central Mexico.
Three to 6 inches of rain were forecast for Yucatan and Belize, with localized amounts of up to 12 inches. A storm surge of 2 to 4 feet was possible near and north of the center along the eastern Mexican Bay of Campeche coast late Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
A tropical storm warning was posted for the Mexican coast from Rio Lagartos to Sabancuy and from Veracruz to Rio Panuco.