CHETUMAL, Mexico - Coastal residents of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula and northeastern Belize fled their homes Sunday as the dangerous core of Hurricane Keith came ashore, bringing strong wind and torrential rain.
With the storm packing 125-mph winds, scores of people in Chetumal, a bay-side city of 130,000, abandoned their homes. Many live in low-lying areas, in shacks made of wooden slats and cardboard.
Mexican authorities set up 15 shelters and evacuated 800 people from high-risk areas in the region, about 190 miles south of Cancun.
Many residents seemed to take the weather in stride; families waded through streets flooded with ankle-deep water. Others rode bikes through the pounding rain and old men drank coffee on a covered sidewalk.
Hurricane Keith was stationary Sunday afternoon, about 50 miles south-southeast of Chetumal, and about 40 miles northeast of Belize City, where power lines were reported down, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
The U.S. government issued a travel warning to Americans in Belize because of extensive flooding, the State Department said. Peace Corps volunteers and U.S. government employees in non-emergency jobs were moved out.
The Belize village of San Pedro was one of the hardest-hit areas, Red Cross officials said. Winds battering the village were clocked at 83 mph before the instrument measuring the wind broke. Gusts were reported up to 110 mph.
''We have reports that roofs are blowing off houses,'' said Judith Reid, of the Red Cross in Belize City. ''The rain is coming on strong and the wind is picking up here, and we are still far south of where the action is.''
Forecasters warned of flash floods and mud slides as heavy rain fell throughout Belize, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua, although the slow-moving hurricane was expected to weaken as it moved inland.
There were no reports of deaths or injuries by midday in the state of Quintana Roo, where Chetumal is located, said Jose Irabien, an official from the governor's office.
''The storm is acting strange, usually the winds are a lot stronger than this when a storm of this magnitude is this close, but this time we haven't seen that,'' Irabien said. ''We're working 24 hours a day to keep people informed and to help anyone who needs it.''
Maria de la Cruz, from the nearby community of Izcalac, abandoned her shack Saturday with her husband, five children and four other relatives.
''They told us it's going to hit hard,'' said De la Cruz, one of 217 area residents sleeping at a school in Chetumal. ''Thank God we have some place to go.''
A hurricane warning remained in effect Sunday along the Yucatan peninsula's eastern shore, from Cabo Catoche south to Monkey River Town, Belize. A hurricane watch was in effect for the Yucatan's north coast, west of Cabo Catoche to Progreso.
Standing outside the Hotel Tulum in Chetumal, lifelong resident Ramon Escamilla, 60, knows from experience not to underestimate the storm's force.
''We're listening close to the news to see what happens,'' Escamilla said. ''We can always buy things if we lose them, but protecting ourselves is the most important thing.''
Elsewhere, a greatly weakened Tropical Storm Joyce dumped inches of rain on Trinidad and Tobago but did little damage as it swept through the central Caribbean on Sunday.
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On the Net:
National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov
