Tropical storm Karl floods 600 Mexican
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Tropical Storm Karl, which struck the Mexican state Quintana Roo Wednesday, has flooded around 600 homes in tourist city Chetumal, a civil protection official told a press conference.
"Dozens of families lost all of their property because the water reached 1.5 meters," said Juan Manuel Zamarripa Perez, head of civil protection in Othon Blanco, one of the three cities put on red alert Tuesday. The alert was lifted as soon as the storm passed the city.
"During the three hours the storm affected us, 157 millimeters (mm) of rain fell, and of those 125 mm fell within an hour. That is what caused the chaos," he said.
Mexico's state-run National Meteorology Service (SMN) warned Tuesday the storm would bring heavy rain and strong winds to the Yucatan peninsula.
An SMN forecast issued on Wednesday said the storm would likely enter the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday and could strike Mexico's mainland again late on Friday or early on Saturday.
The hard-hit municipalities are Othon P. Blanco, Felipe Carrillo Puerto and Tulum, home to Quintana Roo's best-known tourist attraction.
In a statement published on its website late on Tuesday, the state government said it had already evacuated shoreline homes, businesses and fishing bases from Mahahual to Tulum, and opened emergency shelters to cover the needs of local population.
The civil protection official in Tampico Manuel Aceituno Rodriguez said on Wednesday he expected the storm would reach land again close to Tuxpan in Veracruz.
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