Riviera Maya, Q.R. — There are more than 400,000 tourists vacationing in the region as Hurricane Beryl heads toward Quintana Roo. Bernardo Cueto, head of the State Tourism Secretariat (Sedetur) says all state agencies are readying to activate protocols for the imminent arrival of Beryl.
According to Cueto, there are currently 423,000 tourists vacationing in the state of which 298,000 are international tourists. He says hotels and consulates will be working with Sedetur to activate the Guest Locator in case evacuations are required.
Cueto says a meeting with the Governor is set for Tuesday, at which time, State Civil Protection will likely start activating protocols regarding hotels, transport vehicles, cruises, ferries and the state’s airports.
Francisco Fernández, President of the Nautical Association of Quintana Roo says they are keeping a close eye on official updates and that for now, they will continue to operate normally, at least until Wednesday.
As of Tuesday morning, Hurricane Beryl was upgraded to a category 5 hurricane. Due to its proximity to the coast of Quintana Roo, a Green alert, low danger, has been issued by Civil Protection. However, residents are being asked to clean gutters in front of their homes, prune trees and secure things that can fly away in strong winds. Authorities are also suggesting people protect windows.
“Based on the information issued by the National Hurricane Center of Miami, Florida, United States, and disseminated by the National Meteorological Service on monitoring and surveillance for the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, the center of Hurricane Beryl, category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, is located 375 km southeast of Beata Island and 2,000 km east-southeast of Cancún, Q. Roo.
“It has maximum sustained winds of 260 km/h and gusts of 315 km/h and moving towards the west-northwest at 35 km/h. Its development and trajectory are being monitored. At the moment it does not represent a danger to the state’s coasts. Green Alert is issued for the state of Quintana Roo,” Coordinación Estatal de Protección Civil QRoo posted late Tuesday morning.
According to updated trajectories, Hurricane Beryl could make landfall near the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, south of Tulum as a Category 1 sometime Friday.
