8m waves flood Cancun

2005-10-22 08:24

Mexico City - A massive storm surge measuring between five and eight metres that was whipped up by Hurricane Wilma has flooded the Mexican resort of Cancun, the national meteorological service said.

The category four storm hit the Yucatan peninsula and its world famous beaches with sustained winds of 220km/h an hour, but no major casualties were immediately reported.

The eye of the 12th hurricane of the Atlantic season was expected to remain over the peninsula on Saturday before heading slowly toward the Florida coast in the southern United States.

At 03:00, the United States National Hurricane Centre said the eye of the storm remained 25km south of Cancun.

"It's going to be over the Yucatan over a long period," said Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) in Miami.

The NHC said the storm could weaken as it moved inland but remained "extremely dangerous."

The storm has already claimed at least one life. A 33-year-old Mexican woman was electrocuted and killed in Cancun as she readied for the arrival of the storm, authorities said.

A state of emergency was declared in 55 districts of Yucatan.

- AFP