Ida strengthens, 42 dead

2009-11-08 18:42

Cancun - Hurricane Ida strengthened off the Mexican resort city of Cancun on the Yucatan Peninsula on Sunday after the storm's heavy rains killed at least 42 people in El Salvador.

El Salvador's interior minister said more victims were expected to be found as rescue workers moved into areas cut off by mudslides in the Central American nation.

Ida was poised to enter the Gulf of Mexico later on Sunday and could gain additional strength as it churns towards the oil and gas production facilities of the central Gulf before weakening as it nears the US Gulf Coast later this week, the US National Hurricane Centre said on Sunday.

Mexican authorities had no plans yet to evacuate foreigners from the beach resorts of Cancun and Playa del Carmen, popular with American tourists, but were moving residents of coastal areas into shelters.

Mexico: travel warning

The Mexican government urged people to avoid unnecessary travel in the Yucatan Peninsula and imposed restrictions on coastal shipping.

The Miami-based hurricane centre set a hurricane watch, meaning hurricane conditions are expected within 36 hours, from Grand Isle, Louisiana to the border between the states of Mississippi and Alabama. The watch did not include the city of New Orleans.

Ida reached hurricane status again late on Saturday and had top sustained winds of near 145km/h, the hurricane centre said in its 15:00 GMT advisory.

Ida is a Category 1 hurricane, the lowest on the five-step Saffir-Simpson intensity scale, and forecasters said it could strengthen to a Category 2 hurricane later on Sunday. Gradual weakening was expected to begin by late on Monday.

The centre of Ida was 120km northeast of the Caribbean resort island of Cozumel, Mexico, and about 125km west-southwest of the western tip of Cuba, the hurricane centre said.

It was moving north west near 16km/h and was forecast to turn toward the north over the next two days.

Quarter of US oil

Energy companies active in the Gulf of Mexico, including Mexico's state oil monopoly, Pemex, are actively monitoring the storm but have not yet evacuated any production platforms or curtailed output of oil and gas.

The Gulf of Mexico accounts for a quarter of US domestic oil production and 15% of natural gas output. The Gulf Coast is also home to 40% of the nation's refining capacity.

Ida first became a hurricane on Thursday off the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua before weakening over that country. It strengthened again on Saturday.

The storm's heavy rains forced more than 5 000 people into shelters in Nicaragua but the authorities said there were no reports of fatalities.

The country's coffee crop was not directly affected by the storm, according to the local coffee council.

- Reuters