Live updates: Hurricane Beryl heading for Mexico after battering Jamaica

Mexican officials evacuated sea turtle eggs from beaches ahead of Hurricane Beryl, the Associated Press reports.

For some eggs, experts transferred them to safer areas. In other cases, they created corrals with sandbags to keep the eggs safe where they were laid, the outlet reports.

“Look, it’s not the best thing to do, but we are facing an emergency in which if they don’t take them out, they all could be lost,” biologist Graciela Tiburcio told the AP.

“In a normal situation this would not be right, because this will surely cause mortality,” Tiburcio continued. “There will be a lower rate of hatched eggs, that is the reality. But it’s also a reality that if the nests are left there, they’ll all be lost.”

AccuWeather Meteorologist Geoff Cornish says Hurricane Beryl could bring four to eight inches of rain to Brownsville, Texas if it hits the region early next week.

“San Antonio and Austin will likely see several inches of rain from Beryl as well,” Cornish said on Thursday.

AccuWeather’s Paul Pastelok warns the storm could stall in the Gulf Coast, driving longer storm conditions.

“There is a chance that this storm may stall once it gets onshore in northern Mexico and southern Texas, which could lead to more rainfall and flooding concerns,” Pastelok said. The National Weather Service said Beryl has the potential to hit Texas on Monday into Tuesday.

For now, the Category 2 storm is set to make landfall on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula in the coming hours.

Hurricane Beryl weakened to a Category 2 storm this afternoon, with maximum sustained winds of 110mph.

This means the storm is no longer a “major hurricane,” which is defined as Category 3 and above.

However, it will still bring life-threatening storm conditions to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula — including several popular tourist destinations along the coast — in the coming hours.

Hurricane Beryl, now a Category 2 storm, will bring “life-threatening” storm conditions to the Yucatan Peninsula overnight, National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan said this afternoon.

The storm is set to hit Texas by early Monday morning.

“We are forecasting some re-strengthening over the Gulf of Mexico as Beryl turns more northwestward and approaches the coast of northeastern Mexico and South Texas,” Brennan said. “We are forecasting it to be at or near hurricane strength by Monday morning, and expecting it to make landfall somewhere in that vicinity.”

Nearby residents should closely monitor the weather forecast and be on high alert for dangerous water conditions in the Gulf Coast over the weekend.

The United Nations will put $4 million towards aid efforts in Jamaica, Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines in the wake of Hurricane Beryl, the BBC reports.

Earlier this week, the UN said officials in Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines are working closely with local leaders to help with recovery efforts.

“To date, Grenada and St Vincent’s and the Grenadines have reported hundreds of people in shelters,” a UN spokesperson said.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has asked for the international community to “show solidarity” with all the Caribbean countries in Hurricane Beryl’s path, the spokesperson said.

Hurricane Beryl, now a Category 2 storm, will make landfall on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula within hours, the National Weather Service (NWS) said moments ago.

“Damaging winds, a dangerous storm surge and flooding rainfall are expected,” the NWS said.

The storm will move toward the Gulf Coast over the weekend, where it will create dangerous rip currents. The hurricane is likely to hit southern Texas early next week, forecasters say.