Riviera Maya, Q.R. — Bright bolts of lightning could be seen for kilometers in the darkened skies over Playa del Carmen Thursday night. The bright flashes were a heads-up as to what Mother Nature had in store for the region.
It did not take long before pounding rain was unleashed on a majority of Quintana Roo. During the night, residents reported everything from thunderstorms to waterspouts.
Several areas of Playa del Carmen were left with barely passable streets due to the heavy downpour. On Friday afternoon, the Municipality of Solidaridad reported the neighborhoods that were flooded were being attended to.
According to City Hall, Centro, 5th Avenue, Ejido, Forjadores, Palmas 2, Misión de las Flores, Guadalupana, Petén, among others were left under water.
“Eight wells and 275 grates were cleaned with the help of collaborators from the Secretariat of Public Services of Solidaridad. During the day, they will continue to tour the city to verify and carry out the dredging of absorption wells, the cleaning of grates and wells,” Solidaridad City Hall reported Friday afternoon.
Cozumel also experienced rain but not to the same agree. City workers were out in the afternoon in yellow rain gear clearing street drains in preparation for a heavy rainfall that did not arrive. The island was soaked, but not drenched. Authorities have not reported any waterlogged residential areas or closed streets.
Isla Mujeres workers however, were forced out in the yellow municipal rain gear trying to clear drains before they clogged. Unfortunately, Mother Nature won that hand after drenching the island over night, leaving several streets impassable.
“The Municipal Coordination of Civil Protection and Firefighters of Isla Mujeres were on alert all night to deal with the heavy rains that occurred in the last few hours. This morning they continued working on cleaning the grates,” Isla Mujeres City Hall reported Friday.
Residents in Chetumal reported the formation of a large waterspout that could be seen from a distance in the dark. City residents snapped photos of the waterspout as it hovered over Chetumal Bay.
State Civil Protection (Coordinación Estatal de Protección Civil) says rain remains in the forecast for the duration of the weekend. According to the Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (SMN), as much as 250 mms could be dumped on the state of Quintana Roo in the next 24 hours.
Mexico’s SMN is forecasting torrential rain for a majority of the Yucatan Peninsula. “In the next few hours, there will be a period of intense to torrential rains in southeastern Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula due to a low-pressure channel.
“Low pressure channels, combined with the entry of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, together with instability at high levels of the atmosphere, are expected to cause rain and showers over the northwest, north, northeast, east, center and west of the Mexican Republic.
“Torrential rains (from 150 to 250 millimeters) are expected in Campeche, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Yucatan.
“For the Yucatan Peninsula, cloudy skies and a warm daytime temperatures in the afternoon, northeast winds of 10 to 25 km/h, gusts of 50 to 70 km/h and conditions for the formation of waterspouts in coastal areas,” the SMN has forecast.
