Hurricane Grace soaks Mexico's Caribbean coast

TULUM, Mexico (AP) — Hurricane Grace pelted Mexico's Caribbean coast with heavy rain and strong winds overnight, threatening to keep tourists off the white sand beaches until it crosses the Yucatan Peninsula.

The Category 1 storm had already soaked earthquake-damaged Haiti, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands en route to a direct hit on the Riviera Maya, the heart of Mexico's tourism industry.

Quintana Roo state opened shelters and evacuated some hotels and residents ahead of the storm's arrival. Popular cruise ship destination Cozumel and hip Tulum were in the storm's path.

Playa del Carmen's downtown, usually thumping with music and clubgoers, was eerily desolate Wednesday night. Authorities had ordered all businesses closed and people inside by 8 p.m.

One exception was Axel Felix, a 37-year-old pizza deliveryman making his last drop-off of the night in a rain slicker. “Now I'm going home and I'm not going out until tomorrow,” Felix said. “You've got to be careful and stay at home.”

Another was Juan González, a 25-year-old student walking his dog. “At home we will be calm with food, waiting to see what happens and with the windows protected,” he said.

With little to stand in its way on the peninsula, Grace was expected to weaken slightly then regain hurricane strength in the Gulf of Mexico before making a second landfall in Mexico later this week.

Quintana Roo Gov. Carlos Joaquin said Thursday that authorities had evacuated hotels that were not made to withstand hurricanes and he called a halt to alcohol sales in the region at 5 p.m. Some airlines cancelled flights to the peninsula.

On Wednesday evening, Grace had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kph) and was moving west at 18 mph (30 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. The storm’s center was...