Progreso, Yucatán — Strong winds damaged three of the five tanks at a fuel terminal under construction on the puerto de altura, stranded a boat at Chicxulub, destroyed a canvas roof in a park and knocked out power in a part of Mérida.
Winds were as powerful as 100 kilometers per hour, or 62 miles per hour.
The 22-meter-high fuel terminal tanks were unreinforced in the midst of construction, unprepared to meet the force of the recent cold front. Around 200 workers were evacuated and no injuries were reported.
When the terminal is finished, it will be designed to withstand a category 5 hurricane, port officials told reporters.
A spokesman for Hidrosur, which owns the terminal, added that the operation is still expected to be open by May, as originally projected.
Up the coast, a 45-foot fishing boat Langosteros de Progreso broke from its mooring and ran aground at Chicxulub Puerto, thrown to the coast by the north winds. Boats on the high seas maneuvered through swells up to three meters high.
The canvas roof at Parque Morelos in Progreso blew away, forcing authorities to remove the entire structure.
Temperatures have dipped to around 14C/58F at night as residents, accustomed to tropical heat, bundled up.
In Mérida, the strong winds knocked down a flamboyan tree on Calle 55-D at 56 and 58 in the Francisco de Montejo area, where workers from City Hall cleared the road. No injury or property damage was reported, but neighbors lost power for several hours.
Source: Diario de Yucatán, Sipse
