The storm’s gusty winds, heavy rain and surge flooding has caused Belize to experience caused major power outages.
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Meanwhile, Mexico discontinued all warnings associated with the storm and Belize replaced its hurricane warning with a tropical storm warning.
Its core was expected to strike near Belize City, the capital of the small Central American nation, around midnight Wednesday, August 3 (0600 GMT Thursday).
Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 50 miles per hour, with higher gusts.
Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 60 miles to the east of the center.
People on the coast have been told to seek shelter as high winds and heavy rain approach.
Storm Earl has already claimed the lives of six people in the Dominican Republic and is expected to move on over Mexico later on Thursday.
The hurricane center said the storm will weaken after it reaches land.
The National Hurricane Center said that the storm flow could increase water levels up to 4 to 6 feet overhead usual tide heights in the coast of the Honduran Bay Islands, Belize and neighboring parts of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.
After moving across the Yucatan Peninsula, Earl could briefly emerge into the southern Gulf of Mexico before moving ashore for a second time on Mexico’s Gulf Coast.
The Jamaican government is instructing residents in low-lying areas to move to higher ground once the storm hits.
The storm knocked over a large numbers of trees and utility poles in Honduras, officials say.
The navy rescued 80 of the original 82 crew members on Wednesday morning, the daily said.
Schools and universities were closed across Honduras’ Atlantic provinces, as were two commercial airports.
Authorities rescued four families in the coastal city of Trujillo after a river jumped its banks.
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Officials have ordered the closure of the city’s worldwide airport while archaeological reserves and national parks were also shut.
