Emily Lashes Yucatan, Heads North
Weakened Hurricane Could Strengthen Before Hitting Northern Mexico
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Play CBS Video Video Warnings From Mexico To Texas Hurricane Emily has weakened a bit after hitting the Yucatan Peninsula, but as it travels through the Gulf it is expected to pick up steam. Scott Rapoport reports on the storm's path.
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Video South Texas Preps For Emily Forecasters say that Hurricane Emily could return to Mexico and regain strength before it hits the Gulf Coast and south Texas. CBS News' Scott Rapoport has more on preparations.
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A car passes by knocked-down power lines in Playa Del Carmen after Hurricane Emily passed. (AP)
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A tourist sits with her child on the beach amidst destoyed huts in Playa del Carmen after Hurricane Emily passed over the island. (AP)
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A woman makes her way among hundreds of sleeping tourists at a shelter in downtown Cancun, Mexico in the early hours of Monday. (AP)
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Interactive Hurricane Emily Another big one churns through the Gulf of Mexico.
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Interactive Storm Tracker Follow all the storms of the 2009 season with satellite images, warnings and wind speed charts.
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"We have some trees down, we have some damage, but the people are safe right now, and they are in their rooms," desk clerk Fernando at the El Cid la Ceiba Beach Hotel in Cozumel told CBS Radio News.
The hotel is advising its guests to stay inside for now.
"Until we clean up the area, we recommend them to be in the room, take a rest," he said.
"The damage is relatively minor," reports CBS News Correspondent Lee Cowan (video) in Cancun. "There are some awnings that have blown off, a lot of downed trees, a lot of downed power poles, a lot of debris in the streets, but we couldn't find any really significant structural damage."
No deaths were immediately reported from the storm's landfall. Emily earlier was blamed for four deaths in Jamaica, and two helicopter pilots were killed Sunday while attempting to evacuate an oil rig off the Mexican coast in high winds.
The hurricane knocked out power and phone service to much of Mexico's famous Riviera Maya coastline, where thousands of residents and tourists rode out the storm in sweltering, makeshift shelters set up in schools and hotel ballrooms.
Although Emily weakened to a Category 1 hurricane while crossing the peninsula, it was expected to strengthen again over the Gulf later Monday.
A hurricane watch was issued from Cabo Rojo, Mexico, to Baffin Bay, Texas. The brunt of the second landfall was forecast to hit northeast Mexico late Tuesday or early Wednesday.
"Emily will make landfall once again late Tuesday into early Wednesday over the northern sections of Mexico, about 100 miles or so south of Brownsville," says CBS News Meteorologist George Cullen. "The effects for southern Texas will be some heavy rain and squally winds."
By 2 p.m. EDT, winds had decreased to 75 mph, with the hurricane moving west-northwest at about 17 mph in the cooler waters north of the peninsula.
But Emily was expected to reach the warmer currents of the western Gulf of Mexico later Monday, picking up strength and hitting the northeastern coast of Mexico “as a major hurricane” as early as Tuesday night, forecasters said.
©MMV CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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