'We have to take extreme precautions' Hurricane Beryl heads towards Yucatan Peninsula

Beryl strengthened Thursday evening to a Category 3 hurricane on the five-point ascending Saffir-Simpson scale. It was about 87 miles (140 kilometers) southeast of Tulum, Mexico, on Friday morning. The hurricane is packing sustained winds of 115 miles (185 kilometers) per hour (185 kilometers per hour). It is expected to bring heavy rain to the Yucatan Peninsula. Flooding and landslides are possible.

At least 11 people have died in Beryl's devastating effects. The death toll has been reported in Jamaica, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and northern Venezuela, Reuters reported. The death toll could rise as communications are restored and more reports come in from islands devastated by the hurricane.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Thursday urged people living in the hurricane's path to take shelter because Beryl is expected to bring heavy rains that could trigger landslides and floods.

“Material things can be recovered, but the most important thing is life,” the president wrote on social media.

Every municipality in Quintana Roo, including Tulum, is on red alert (the highest level). In neighboring Yucatan state, many southern and eastern municipalities are also on red alert.

Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama said the entire state, home to Mexico's most popular tourist destination Cancun, was bracing for the hurricane. “Now is the time to protect ourselves and take care of those we love the most,” she wrote on social media. “We are still on red alert, we have to take extreme precautions,” she added. At least 100 flights were canceled at Cancun's international airport on Thursday.

The forecasts indicate that the Yucatan Peninsula will receive 100-150 liters of rain per square meter. Locally, it could even fall 250 liters per square meter, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported. It added that Beryl is expected to reach southern Texas by the end of the weekend.

Beryl hit the Cayman Islands on Thursday and Jamaica the day before as a Category 4 hurricane. More than 400,000 people in Jamaica were left without power and many homes were leveled.

“It's terrible, everything is gone. I'm in my house and I'm scared,” Amoy Wellington, a 51-year-old cashier from Top Hill in the southern part of Jamaica's St. Elizabeth region, told Reuters.

On the east coast of Jamaica, Beryl caused flooding due to heavy rains, and wind gusts of up to 130 kilometres per hour were reported in the capital, Kingston.

Before reaching Jamaica, Beryl swept as a Category 5 hurricane over several smaller Caribbean islands—Grenada, Carriacou, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines—uprooting trees, tearing off roofs and devastating farms.