Normal life resumes on Mexico’s Caribbean coast after passage of Hurricane Beryl

(6 Jul 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tulum, Mexico - 5 July 2024
1. Mid of people sitting by Tulum sign
2. People walking down the street
3. Tourists at souvenir shop
4. National Guard patrolling street
5. Men removing boards from window
6. Woman cleaning floor at store
7. Man fixing store roof
8. People waiting outside restaurant
9. People at restaurant table
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Steffany Baptiste, high school principal visiting from Fair Lawn, New Jersey:
"The hurricane wasn't bad. It was definitely an unknown. We've never experienced that before, but it was the tail end of our trip. We're leaving tomorrow. United is apparently still flying, so we're just kind of excited that everyone's outside today. That's actually a shocking thing."
11. Traffic
12. People standing in line on the street
13. People walking past piled up chairs
14. Boarded up stores
15. Pan of military vehicle patrolling street
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Jean Gruss, French-American writer visiting from Miami:
"The hurricane interrupted our scuba diving trip, so we didn’t get to go scuba diving today as we had planned. That’s OK because we get to hang out in beautiful Tulum for a day."
17. Tree branches and leaves on the street
18. Various of people chatting and playing cards outside grocery store
19. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Filiberto Chan Pech, waiter at a hotel:
"We are well, we came out well, our houses are all fine. Our families, everyone is happy and right now we are enjoying (spending time with) our families, everything, being back (after the hurricane). But we shouldn't be overconfident because more hurricanes are always coming. The hurricane season is just beginning."
20. Various of people playing on beach
21. People watching the sea from lookout
22. Various of men fishing
23. Waves in choppy sea
24. Waves hitting the shore
STORYLINE:
Life returned to normal on Mexico’s Caribbean beaches on Friday after Beryl made landfall without causing extensive damage.
Beryl hit the resort town of Tulum as a Category 2 hurricane before weakening to a tropical storm.
It toppled trees but caused no injuries or deaths before weakening as it moved across the peninsula.
But the U.S. National Hurricane Center expects the storm to regain hurricane strength in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and hit south Texas by late Sunday or early Monday.
The head of Mexico's civil defense agency, Laura Velázquez, said Beryl hadn't caused any deaths or injuries there and that “damages were minor,” though tens of thousands of people remained without power.
Tulum was plunged into darkness when the storm knocked out power as it came ashore.
Screeching winds set off car alarms across the town.
Wind and rain continued to whip the seaside city and surrounding areas Friday morning.
Army brigades roved the streets of the tourist city, clearing fallen trees and power lines.
Before the storm hit Mexico, official had set up shelters in schools and hotels.
When the wind began gusting over Tulum’s beaches Thursday, officials on four-wheelers with megaphones rolled along the sand telling people to leave and authorities evacuated beachside hotels.
Sea turtle eggs were even moved off beaches threatened by storm surge.
Beryl, the earliest storm to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic, caused at least 11 deaths as it passed through the Caribbean islands earlier in the week.
Texas officials urged coastal residents to prepare as the storm headed their way.
AP video shot by: Martín Silva Rey
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