Chetumal, Q.R. — At least two people were reported killed and several others injured after a storm ripped through Chetumal. On Wednesday evening, two construction workers were killed when a 15-meter tree, which was felled due to strong winds and heavy rains, struck them.
The men were working near the Chetumal International Airport at the time of the incident. Four other area workers were injured.
The storm arrived just before 6:00 p.m. Wednesday with strong winds and heavy rains that tore down signs, felled trees and left some roads waterlogged. One CFE pole in the capital city was buckled after being hit by lightning.
The storm also affected areas of Tulum with residents reporting intermedient electrical service and hail.
Jessica Jaqueline Martínez Barrios, head of the Municipal Coordination of Civil Protection of Tulum, said she had several reports of falling hail from municipal residents, some of whom, had never seen it before.
Costa Maya residents reported hail as far south as the Hondo River along the Belize border, however, the city of Chetumal was the hardest hit with pouring rain and wind gusts strong enough to knock down large trees.
A majority of the state of Quintana Roo had rain in the forecast for Wednesday afternoon.
Shalon Rojas, who heads the Metrology department of the Municipal Civil Protection Coordination, explained that the falling hail was due to a storm that lasted less than five minutes. However, the high intensity shower, which became sufficiently unstable in those areas, began to generate hail.
She said the unstable weather is due to a cold front in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
