 Hurricane Emily is seen east of the Yucatan Peninsula in this satellite image taken Sunday at 4:45 p.m. ET |
Hurricane Emily Still just on the threshold of a Category 5 classification despite slightly weakened winds --brushed the Cayman Islands early Sunday as it churned closer to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. |
Emily barreled toward Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula as a powerful Category 4 hurricane Sunday evening, but its top winds dropped slightly as it approached land.
Cancun closed its airport, and Mexico's state oil company evacuated drill rigs offshore as the storm approached.
As of 8 p.m. ET, Emily was centered 90 miles southeast of Cozumel, Mexico, moving west-northwest at about 20 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida.
The storm's top winds dropped to 135 mph from 145 mph, but it remained a Category 4 hurricane capable of causing extensive structural damage and coastal flooding with storm surges of up to 18 feet over normal tides.
The hurricane center's forecast shows Emily's center will probably reach the Yucatan by late Sunday or early Monday, then approach the Mexican coast for a second time -- this time near the Texas border -- by late Tuesday.
The potential path the second landfall actually stretches hundreds of miles from Matagorda Bay in Texas south to near Veracruz, Mexico.
The hurricane center said Emily is not expected to change much in strength before it hits land, although the storm is expected to weaken as its center crosses the Yucatan.
Hurricane warnings were posted from the beach towns of Cabo Catoche to Campeche, including the resorts of Cancun, Cozumel and Isla Mujeres. Tropical storm warnings were posted for the northern coast of Belize as well.
Mexican authorities Saturday asked an estimated 130,000 tourists in Cancun
and the surrounding beaches to evacuate. The Yucatan tourist hotspot closed
its airport at 3 p.m. (4 p.m. ET) Sunday as the storm approached, airport officials
said.
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