Hurricane Emily on the Prowl in Yucatan; Texas Coast Prepares for Storm This Week

The season’s second major hurricane set its sights on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and the tourist haven of Cancun on Sunday, with the Category 4 storm possibly visiting the Texas Gulf Coast later this week.

Cancun closed its airport and tourists were left to remain in their hotel rooms or seek other forms of shelter. The storm has already left death and destruction in Grenada and Jamaica.

At 8 p.m. ET on Sunday, Emily was located 90 miles southeast of Cozumel, Mexico, traveling west-northwest at about 20 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida.

The storm’s top winds slightly decreased to 135 mph from 145 mph, but it remained a Category 4 hurricane capable of causing extensive structural damage and coastal flooding.

The hurricane center’s forecast predicts Emily’s center will probably hit the Yucatan by late Sunday or early Monday, then head towards the Mexican coast for a second time — this time near the Texas border — by late Tuesday.

Unlike the visit by Dennis earlier this month, folks on the Florida Panhandle and in Alabama and Mississippi apparently will not have to worry about a direct visit from Emily this time around.