BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Aug. 19, 2021– As of 7 o’clock this morning, Hurricane Grace was moving inland over the Yucatan Peninsula.

The system recently strengthened into a hurricane and is battering the Mexican Atlantic coast with strong winds and heavy rains, which are expected to continue throughout today.

Within the coming days, the storm is expected to hit central Mexico, and its current path is
indicating it will re-enter open tropical waters over the Bay of Campeche and likely strengthen.

At this time, a tropical storm warning is in effect for the Yucatan Peninsula from Cancun to
Punta Herrero, including Cozumel. A hurricane warning is in effect for the coast of mainland
Mexico from Puerto Veracruz to Cabo Rojo.

A recent advisory from the National Hurricane Center states, “At 1000 AM CDT (1500 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Grace was located near latitude 20.2 North, longitude 88.8 West. Grace is moving toward the west near 18 mph (30 km/h). A general westward to west- northwestward motion is expected today, followed by a general westward to west- southwestward motion at a slower speed over the weekend. On the forecast track, Grace is
expected to continue to move across the Yucatan Peninsula today, and move over the southwest Gulf of Mexico late tonight through Friday. Grace will likely make a second landfall on the mainland coast of Mexico late Friday or early Saturday.”

The storm is expected to produce 4 to 8 inches of rain with as much as 15 inches being dumped across Mexico’s north-central regions.

The Government of Cuba, on the other hand, has since discontinued all tropical storm watches.

In Belize, an advisory from the National Meteorological Service states that, starting on Wednesday, the northern half of the country is expected to see some rainfall that might extend until the weekend as a result of this system.