Isidore rips up Yucatán coast
09/23/2002
MERIDA, Mexico - Powerful Hurricane Isidore drove tens of thousands of people from their homes Sunday as it raked the northern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula then veered inland toward the state capital.
The storm shredded trees, knocked out power, set roofs dancing in the air and prompted the state oil company to evacuate 8,000 oil workers from drilling platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the Category 3 storm could grow stronger and head north in two days, putting it on a possible course for Texas or Louisiana.
weather: Latest 5-day outlook for D-FWForecasters said Isidore had maximum sustained winds of 120 mph and could weaken more until it re-emerges over water in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday.
Gov. Patricio Padron said Yucatán was experiencing "the worst of scenarios." Communications and travel to many areas were cut off. The governor said he had no confirmed reports of deaths and no estimate of damage. Some local radio stations earlier reported deaths from traffic accidents, but details and their relation to the storm were unclear.
The governor said some coastal residents had rejected the appeals of troops trying to enforce his mandatory evacuation order. Officials canceled classes Monday for 480,000 students to free classrooms for use as shelters.
The storm downed power lines and forced authorities to cut power in other areas because of the danger. Several television and radio stations were knocked off the air.
The state oil monopoly, Petroleos Mexicanos, announced it was evacuating more than 8,000 workers from oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico as a precaution. Eight hundred others were left aboard pending developments.
Heavy waves pounded the piers and washed onto coastal boulevards in Progreso, the peninsula's main port city, 20 miles to the north of Merida. Reporters saw light poles uprooted and hurled to the ground as their lamp fixtures continued to twirl in the winds above.
Soldiers and police in all-terrain vehicles scoured muddy roads and streets along the coast looking for residents. The navy used small vessels to cruise from village to village, enforcing the mandatory evacuations.
Torrential rains associated with Isidore caused flooding that killed a 16-year-old boy and an 89-year-old man on Nicaragua's Pacific Coast.
Isidore hit western Cuba on Friday and Saturday with 100 mph winds and torrential rains. The amount of damage was unclear, but a tour of the affected region found heavy flooding across the western part of the island.
In southern Louisiana on Sunday, residents kept a wary eye on Hurricane Isidore's progress as officials with 12 parishes had a conference call with National Weather Service forecasters, trying to glean clues about where the storm would head next. The forecasters told Louisiana officials that the storm could hit anywhere from Brownsville, Texas, to Biloxi, Miss.
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