TEGUCIGALPA – Tropical storm Ernesto doused Honduras and Belize as it churned through the western Caribbean yesterday, and US forecasters said it should strengthen into a hurricane before hitting Mexico’s tourist-centre Yucatan peninsula.
Heavy rain poured over northern Honduras early yesterday but there were no reports of damage, Roger Torres, deputy commissioner of the country’s contingency agency said. Big ships were conducting business as usual on Honduras’ main Atlantic ports, although authorities restricted fishing for small boats.
Hurricane warnings were raised for the coast of Belize and the eastern flank of Yucatan, the US National Hurricane Center in Miami said, warning of possible flash floods and mudslides. It said Ernesto had top sustained winds of 100kph (65 mph) yesterday morning and is forecast to become a hurricane before it reaches the Yucatan.
Forecasters expect Ernesto to move into the Gulf of Mexico by this afternoon, but it was too early to know if it could disrupt oil and gas operations in the gulf.