BELMOPAN, Belize (AP) – Hurricane Earl was downgraded to a tropical storm Thursday after slamming into the coast of the Caribbean nation of Belize with winds of 80 miles per hour (130 kph) and moving inland over Guatemala and Mexico with heavy rains.
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The system, with maximum sustained winds of 70 miles per hour (110 km per hour), is located about 265 miles (425 km) east-southeast of Belize city, the Miami-based weather forecaster said.
Mexico has dropped all storm advisories associated with Earl and Belize has downgraded hurricane warnings to tropical storm alerts.
The only expected effect from Earl in south Texas will be slightly larger waves and a moderate risk of rip currents over the weekend.
There was a tropical storm warning for much of the Honduran coast. Earl will likely move back onshore over southern Mexico late Saturday.
Fishing boats are seen near a beach as storm clouds brought by Hurricane Earl approaches the beach resort of Chetumal, Mexico, August 3, 2016. Hurricane conditions will arrive in Belize and Mexico by Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
Earl became a Category 1 storm on Wednesday, August 3 when NOAA Hurricane Hunters created winds of 75 miles per hour.
Heavy rain is pictured through the windshield of a vehicle as Hurricane Earl approaches, in Beilize City, Belize, August 3, 2016.
About 400 people have been evacuated from Belize’s northern islands as the country is battered by storm winds.
Earl is the second hurricane of the 2016 Atlantic season. For the time being, tropical storm warnings have been extended northward to include Punta Allen, Mexico but not Cozumel or Cancun.
Heavy rains from the storm also fell on Honduras and led to hundreds of people taking cover on the Caribbean coast. The navy was looking for the two missing. Airports in northern Honduras were closed.
The Belize Tourism Board announced that cruise ship calls had also been cancelled for this week.
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Hurricane Earl, packing winds of up to 118kph, was expected to drive into northern Honduras, a coastal part of neighbouring Guatemala, and the small country of Belize.
