Hurricane Earl spares southeast Mexico, downgraded to storm

Hurricane Earl spared southeast Mexico after making landfall in neighboring Belize in the early hours of Thursday, and weakened into a tropical storm.

Earl brought intermittent rain in the Caribbean and Gulf coast states of Quintana Roo and Campeche, but "there is no major damage," said Ricardo de la Cruz, head of the Interior Ministry's Civil Protection agency, in a radio telephone interview with news group Grupo Formula.

Around dawn, the hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm, which was moving out of Belize and into Campeche in the early afternoon, with 85 km/h sustained winds and 100 km/h gusts, the agency reported.

On Wednesday evening, officials evacuated some 59 fishermen from the coastal community of Chinchorro, in Quintana Roo, as a precautionary measure, after the storm acquired hurricane force winds of 120 km/h late in the day, said De la Cruz.

A red alert was also issued for southern Quintana Roo, but due to the waning storm, no more measures were needed, the official said.

Earl is now expected to weaken further into a tropical depression, with winds below 63 km/h, as it passes over Campeche and enters the Gulf of Mexico, sometime around dawn on Friday.

Campeche has 11 municipalities on alert for torrential downpours that might also affect the southern states of Chiapas and Tabasco. Endit