Sawt Falasteen - Hurricane Beryl causes havoc in Mexico

The storm hit in the early morning hours with winds of up to 175 kilometers (108 miles) per hour, flattening trees and lampposts and ripping off roof tiles, according to Mexico's civil protection authority.

Electricity was lost in at least three municipalities in the southeastern Quintana Roo state, even as wind speeds slowed to about 140 km/h as Beryl moved deeper inland.

"On the initial reports, there appears to be no loss of life, and that is what matters most to us," President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in his daily press briefing.

The governor of Quintana Roo, Mara Lezama, had urged residents in a video overnight to "please stay home," and classes in the region were suspended.

About 2,200 people had sought cover at dozens of temporary shelters.

"We are still on red alert," said civil protection chief Laura Velazquez, with more than 25,600 security force members and employees of the CFE electricity agency deployed to help affected residents and repair damage.

As a precaution, 348 flights scheduled between Thursday and Saturday were cancelled at Cancun airport, the largest terminal in the Mexican Caribbean.

- 'We have some fear' -

The latest report from the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said Beryl had weakened from a Category 2 hurricane to Category 1 -- milder than earlier in the week when it left a trail of destruction across the Caribbean and the coast of Venezuela, killing at least seven people.

It added that "dangerous hurricane-force winds, storm surge, and damaging waves" could be expected "for a few more hours" in an area that attracts millions of tourists to its Caribbean beaches each year.

Mexico's civil protection agency reported on social network X that Beryl will cause "intense rains... intense winds and high waves in the Yucatan peninsula."

Hundreds of tourists were evacuated from hotels along the coast, while some attempted to take buses Thursday out of the impact zone.

The Mexican army, which deployed some 8,000 troops to Tulum, said it has food supplies and 34,000 liters of purified water to distribute to the population.

"After the gust of wind passed, people started coming," said Amairani Och, who manages a shelter set up in a school that had received 290 people by Thursday night.

Lucero Gazcon, a 67-year-old retiree, told AFP she was grateful for the "wonderful attention" at the shelter, where she found safety with her dog after they were forced to leave their apartment.

Virginia Rebollar, a Mexican tourist who traveled with three family members to Tulum, said their flight out had been cancelled and "we had to pay for two extra nights."

"We have some fear, but we are convinced that people are prepared and know what to do," she added.

In Cancun, a two-hour drive from Tulum, people stocked up on food and other essentials and hotels boarded up their windows.

- 'Reintensification' expected -

Beryl is the first hurricane since NHC records began to reach the Category 4 level in June and the earliest to hit the highest Category 5 in July.

It is extremely rare for such a powerful storm to form this early in the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from early June to late November.

Scientists say climate change likely plays a role in the rapid intensification of storms like Beryl, since there is more energy in a warmer ocean for them to feed on.

North Atlantic waters are currently between two and five degrees Fahrenheit (1-3 degrees Celsius) warmer than normal, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Beryl is projected to weaken as it churns northwest across the Yucatan Peninsula but "a slow reintensification" is expected as it enters the Gulf of Mexico, headed for the eastern state of Tamaulipas on the Texas border, according to the NHC.

Agencies and officials in "northeastern Mexico and the lower and middle Texas coast should closely monitor the progress of Beryl," it warned.

"Hurricane and tropical storm watches will likely be issued for that region later today."

N.Shalabi--SF-PST