Alex’s winds and rains are approaching the Gulf of Mexico
Posted on June 28, 2010 by simona
Alex tropical storm was downgraded to a tropical depression as it moved over southeastern Mexico, but its rains triggered a landslide in Guatemala and overflowing rivers in El Salvador that left a total of nine dead.
The head of the Directorate General of Civil Protection in Guatemala, Jorge Melendez, said that for the second day maintains a yellow alert, the second of four stages, which advises people in high risk areas, AP quoted.
Belize apparently avoided major damage. Emergency Management Coordinator Noreen Fairweather said on national radio that there were no reports of casualties or injuries. Those who were taken to shelters in the storm were returning to their homes.
Taking power
Although he had been demoted, Alex again became a tropical storm last night and it is estimated it could regain strength in the coming days once it reaches the Gulf of Mexico, where warm waters could increase their strength until it becomes a hurricane.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the vortex was Alex yesterday 135 miles south of Campeche, Mexico with maximum sustained winds of 55 kph.
According to latest projections, Alex will make landfall by mid-week on the Mexican coast of the Gulf of Mexico, well southwest of the region where a huge oil spill continues to cast oil to the U.S. coast.
Protecting ports
Mexico shut two of its major oil ports in the Gulf: Dos Bocas and Cayo Arcas, by bad weather caused by Alex. Through these ports the country shipped 97% of its oil exports, mainly to the United States.
The state oil monopoly Pemex maintained normal operations at facilities in the Campeche Sound in the southern Gulf, but remained on alert due to the proximity of the cyclone, said a company spokesman. However, Shell Oil began last Saturday to evacuate nonessential workers from its production and drilling platforms in the Gulf as a precaution before the storm.
The Atlantic hurricane season runs from 1 June to 30 November and forecasters predict that this year will be very active.
In turn, the Pacific, Celia went from being a Category 3 hurricane to a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 85 kph, the hurricane center said.
Darby, who was also a strong hurricane, weakened to a tropical storm, causing heavy rains in Zihuatanejo, Mexico.