Hurricane Earl about to make landfall in Belize; flash floods expected

11 p.m. update:

Hurricane Earl continues to have a rough eye and it is located about 40 miles east of Belize City. Maximum sustained winds at 75 mph, moving west at 15 mph.
Earl is expected to make landfall around midnight Thursday.

In Belize, the government opened storm shelters and used radio and television broadcasts to urge residents of low-lying areas to move to higher ground.

Officials also ordered the international airport in Belize City to close and archeological reserves and national parks were shut. The Belize Tourism Board announced that cruise ship calls had been canceled for this week.

The storm dumped rain on nearly all of Honduras, where officials reported a lobster fishing boat was hit by a large wave in the Caribbean and capsized. Most of the 83 people on board were rescued, but the navy was looking for two missing.

Same hurricane and tropical warnings remain in place.

5 p.m. update:

NOAA’s Hurricane hunter left Tampa, Florida around 2 p.m. on Wednesday to investigate Earl.

Latest track continues to bring Earl over land in Belize Thursday around 12 a.m. Satellite imagery shows a much healthier and better structured Earl.

EARL: SATELITE IMAGERY 

At 5 p.m. Earl was located over the Gulf of Honduras at 150 miles east-southeast of Belize City, moving west at 14 mph, is now a hurricane category 1 with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph. Minimum central pressure is 989mb. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 140 miles mainly to the northeast of the center.

Earl is the second hurricane of the 2016 season.

WATCH vs WARNING

Hurricane warnings continue to be in effect for Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico southward to the Belize/ Guatemala border, also for the Bay Islands in Honduras.
Tropical Storm warning is in effect for north coast of Honduras from Cabo Gracias a Dios westward to the Honduras/Guatemala border. Also, for north of Puerto Costa Maya to Punta Allen, Mexico.

Earl’s impacts across southern Mexico (including the Yucatan Peninsula), Belize, Honduras and Guatemala.

-          Wind: gusts could be higher than 75 mph

-          Rainfall: possible amounts between 8-12 inches total. Isolated amounts of 18 inches. Rain will be moving inland across Tabasco and Veracruz after Thursday morning, similar amounts expected. Heavy rainfall could cause landslides and flash flooding, threatening lives.

-          Storm surge: water level could rise 4-6 feet above normal tide levels along the immediate coast of Belize and Yucatan Peninsula.

If you are traveling or have family or friends in the area, please take the right precautions. Conditions are becoming more difficult to prepare. By this time, residents should have had taken all the right steps to face the storm.

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