Hurricane Delta now Category 4

CANCUN (AP):

Delta rapidly intensified into a Category 4 hurricane with 140 mph (225 kmh) winds Tuesday on a course to hammer southeastern Mexico and then continue on to the US Gulf coast this week.

The worst of the immediate impact was expected along the resort-studded northeastern tip of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, where hurricane conditions were expected Tuesday night and landfall early today.

From Tulum to Cancun, tourism-dependent communities still soaked by the remnants of Tropical Storm Gamma could bear the brunt of the storm.

In Cancun Tuesday, long lines stretched at supermarkets, lumber yards and gas stations as residents scrambled for provisions under mostly sunny skies. Officials warned that residents should have several days of water and food on hand. Boat owners lined up at public ramps to pull their boats out of the water.

Mexico began evacuating tourists and residents from coastal areas along its Riviera Maya Tuesday. Quintana Roo Gov Carlos Joaquin said that buses were already carrying people off Holbox Island and hotels in Cancun and Puerto Morelos were bussing their guests inland to government shelters.

Cancun Mayor Mara Lezama Espinosa said that the city had opened more shelters than usual to give people more space in recognition of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The state ordered all non-essential businesses to close by 1 p.m. and banned the sale of alcohol.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Tuesday that 5,000 federal troops and emergency personnel were being made available in Quintana Roo to aid in storm efforts.