Hurricane Emily roars ashore near Cancun

Hurricane Emily swept over the Yucatan peninsula early today, snapping whole rows of concrete power lines in half, flooding some streets with knee-deep water and shattering ground-floor windows.

There were no immediate reports of deaths or serious injuries as the Category 2 storm headed for the Gulf of Mexico.

Thousands of local residents and foreign tourists spent the night in improvised shelters set up in hotels along the famous Mayan Riviera coastline, on the eastern side of the Yucatan Peninsula.

The storm’s wind speeds had soared to as much as 135 mph, making it a fierce Category 4 storm when it sideswiped Jamaica on Saturday. It had weakened to Category 2 as it passed over land overnight.

This morning, Emily was located over the Yucatan peninsula near Tizimin, about 50 miles north-east of the state capital, Merida, with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph. The storm was expected to emerge into the Gulf later today, where it could again gain strength.

Damage from the storm was evident everywhere on the Mayan Riviera, whose white-sand beaches and turquoise waters attract both Mexican and foreign tourists.

Power was knocked out all along the coast; the force of Emily’s winds snapped concrete utility poles in two along a half-mile stretch of road between the resort city of Playa del Carmen and Cancun to the north. Plate glass windows were shattered on the ground floors of most businesses in Playa del Carmen, while residents waded through knee-deep water along some streets.

Although there were no immediate reports of deaths or serious injuries, there was plenty of discomfort for tourists who had come to the peninsula for sun and relaxation.

“All night long, cold water was pouring in through the holes in the wall,” said tourist Graham Brighton, of Leicester, one of about 1,000 people, mostly tourists, who spent the night on thin foam pads thrown onto a gymnasium floor in the resort city of Cancun. “There were just far too many people crammed into one space.”

Mexico’s state-owned oil company announced Sunday that two pilots were killed in the Gulf of Mexico when their helicopter was downed by strong winds as they tried to land on an offshore oil rig to evacuate workers.