Hurricane Milton, which has intensified in recent hours and once again reached category 5, moved away from the coast of the southern state of Quintana Roo on Tuesday, no reports of deaths or injuries in the main tourist destinations of the Mexican Caribbean. Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama reported “white balance” and triggered alerts for the passage of the hurricaneduring the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the state. “Our state is out of major danger with Hurricane Milton leaving our shores,” Lezama said.
The Milton phenomenon has maintained an erratic trajectory in the last hours, after approaching and moving away from the Yucatan Peninsula, and for a few hours it fell into category 4, to increase again in intensity in the afternoon , heading towards Florida, United States. .
The authorities of Quintana Roo have asked the population to remain vigilant, because heavy rain could still occur. The Secretary of Tourism of Quintana Roo, Bernardo Cueto Riestra, stressed that he remains in constant communication with hoteliers and local authorities to guarantee the safety of nearly 300,000 visitors currently found in Mexican Caribbean destinations, especially in the northern zone.
As for cruises, it has been reported that those stopping in Cozumel and Costa Maya have been postponed. In addition, navigation is still suspended due to strong waves and rain. According to the latest report from Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, 23 flights were canceled, 11 arriving and 12 departing. Additionally, two delays were reported, one on arrival and one on departure. Despite these impacts, the airport continues to operate under strict security conditions.
During an EFE visit to the terminal, it was noted that Many passengers are waiting to reschedule their flights.. Even if the weather phenomenon fades, impacts on air traffic are still expected due to weather conditions.
In the Nichupté Lagoon, which surrounds Cancun’s hotel zone, hundreds of tourist and leisure boats still remain under protection, and the channels between the mangroves serve as shelter ports. It is expected that it will not be until this Wednesday afternoon that the restrictions for minor navigation will be lifted.
Pablo Gutiérrez, secretary general of the municipality of Benito Juárez, to which Cancún belongs, highlighted the preventive work carried out by the three levels of government. “The city has no problems, fortunately there hasn’t been a lot of water (…) We don’t have any reports in the hotel zone, we don’t have any flooding, we don’t “We have no situation reported by the command post,” assured Gutierrez. Antonio Riverol, director of Civil Protection of Benito Juárez, said that all the phenomena that have affected the area in recent weeks have very different characteristics, such as Beryl, which formed very far away in category 5 and weakened , or Tropical Storm Helen, which later became a hurricane leaving the coast of Quintana Roo.
“This Hurricane Milton, which starts from the Caribbean Sea in Nicaragua, crosses the peninsula, forms in the Gulf of Mexico and comes back, the experts say it is reversing, what it is doing is head east, a condition that hurricanes are not very likely to do,” Riverol said. Milton intensified further this afternoon in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and became a Category 5 hurricane again, approaching the west coast of Florida, where it is expected to make landfall Wednesday evening, according to the National Hurricane Center Report (NHC). .
