BELIZE CITY, Belize — Tropical Storm Alex made landfall late Saturday on Belize’s coast, where hundreds of tourists and residents fled low-lying islands ahead of the storm’s arrival.
Besides Belize, Alex’s torrential rains were drenching Guatemala and Mexico’s resort- studded Caribbean coast, where beachgoers were warned to stay out of the water because of rough surf.
The storm, with maximum sustained winds of about 60 mph, was expected to weaken as it pushes across the Yucatan Peninsula, then regain strength later today as it enters the Gulf of Mexico. Alex appeared headed west of the massive oil spill in parts of the gulf, but meteorologists warned that a storm’s track can quickly change.
Belize officials opened storm shelters in the island tourist resort of San Pedro, as some 1,400 people fled for the mainland by plane and by boat. The Associated Press
