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Hurricane Beryl Slams into Mexico’s Coast as a Category 2 Storm

The area faces heavy rainfall and potential flooding in the coming hours, according to forecasts from Mexico’s National Water Commission. - The AP
The area faces heavy rainfall and potential flooding in the coming hours, according to forecasts from Mexico’s National Water Commission. - The AP
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Hurricane Beryl Slams into Mexico’s Coast as a Category 2 Storm

The area faces heavy rainfall and potential flooding in the coming hours, according to forecasts from Mexico’s National Water Commission. - The AP
The area faces heavy rainfall and potential flooding in the coming hours, according to forecasts from Mexico’s National Water Commission. - The AP

Hurricane Beryl roared ashore on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula near the resort town of Tulum as a Category 2 storm early Friday, whipping trees and knocking out power after leaving a trail of destruction that killed at least 11 people across the Caribbean.

Beryl was expected to rapidly weaken to a tropical storm as it crosses over the peninsula before reemerging into the Gulf of Mexico and likely regaining hurricane strength, the US National Hurricane Center said.

Once in the warm waters of the Gulf, Beryl is forecast to head toward northern Mexico near the Texas border, an area soaked by Tropical Storm Alberto just a couple of weeks ago, according to The AP.

Beryl spread destruction in Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Barbados this week after becoming the earliest storm to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic. Three people have been reported dead in Grenada, three in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, three in Venezuela and two in Jamaica, officials said.

After landfall in Mexico, Beryl’s maximum wind speeds had decreased to 100 mph (160 kph), but Tulum will continue to see “large and destructive waves,” the hurricane center said. The area faces heavy rainfall and potential flooding in the coming hours, according to forecasts from Mexico’s National Water Commission.

Mexican authorities had moved some tourists and residents out of low-lying areas around the Yucatan peninsula before landfall, but tens of thousands remained to tough out the strong winds and expected storm surge. Much of the area around Tulum is just a few yards (meters) above sea level.

The city was plunged into darkness when the storm knocked out power as it came ashore. Screeching winds set off car alarms across the town. Wind and rain continued to whip the seaside city and surrounding areas Friday morning.

No deaths or wounded had been reported, but 40% of Tulum continued to be without electricity, said Laura Velázquez, national coordinator of Mexican Civil Protection.

“Don't go out yet. Wait until the hurricane completely passes,” said Velázquez, speaking on a video in a morning press briefing.

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Highway Bridge Aims to Save California's Cougars

Wildlife photographer Johanna Turner shows her "camera trap" photo of a cougar as she poses for a photo in the hills above Glendale, California, on May 30, 2024. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP)
Wildlife photographer Johanna Turner shows her "camera trap" photo of a cougar as she poses for a photo in the hills above Glendale, California, on May 30, 2024. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP)
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Highway Bridge Aims to Save California's Cougars

Wildlife photographer Johanna Turner shows her "camera trap" photo of a cougar as she poses for a photo in the hills above Glendale, California, on May 30, 2024. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP)
Wildlife photographer Johanna Turner shows her "camera trap" photo of a cougar as she poses for a photo in the hills above Glendale, California, on May 30, 2024. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP)

Hollywood stars aren't the only celebrities who live in the hills around Los Angeles -- Southern California's mountain lions also make their homes there and are sometimes almost as famous.

The animal, also known as a puma or a cougar, is the region's apex predator, and spotting them is something of a hobby for locals.

A 2013 photograph of the much loved -- but unimaginatively named -- P-22 in front of the Hollywood sign cemented the creature's place in the popular imagination.

But the picture also highlighted the difficulties faced by a species whose habitat has been invaded by people, as well as from the growing risks of extreme weather events driven by human-caused climate change.

Mountain lions have "lived here forever, and now we're building homes and facilities out on their property," Andy Blue of the San Diego Humane Society's Ramona Wildlife Center, told AFP.

"So it's inevitable that there's going to be interaction between them."

One of the most ambitious efforts to reduce humanity's impact on mountain lions is taking shape northwest of Los Angeles: the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing.

The first phase of the project, on track to open in 2025, will see the completion of a bridge for wild animals over 10 lanes of Highway 101, one of the busiest roads in southern California, with over 300,000 daily travelers.

"When the 101 freeway was constructed through this area about 60 years ago, it had the unintended consequence of cutting off all of the Santa Monica Mountains" from another nearby mountain range, said Lauren Gill, the National Wildlife Federation's deputy director for California.

That separation created what Gill called an "island of habitat, cut off from all of the wild area to the north."

'Extinction vortex'

The consequences of that highway have been significant for the area's wildlife.

Not only did it diminish the genetic diversity of several native species, it also markedly reduced the mountain lions' usual habitat for hunting and reproducing, putting the animal at risk of an "extinction vortex," Gill explained.

The wildlife crossing, which will be covered by local plants, aims to remedy the problem by reconnecting the mountains, providing safe passage for the pumas and other fauna in the region.

"You wouldn't think that birds would need the help of a wildlife crossing," Gill said.

"But in fact, we have some smaller birds like [the] wrentit, who are indigenous to this area, and they're so tiny that the wind currents generated by the freeway make it impossible for them to cross."

Once completed, the $80 million project will be the largest wildlife crossing in the world, according to organizers.

Threat from cars

The need for a protected zone like the crossing is evident at the Ramona Wildlife Center, where all kinds of animals from raccoons to bears are nursed back to strength after falling sick or being orphaned or injured.

Blue said mountain lions come into their care for any number of reasons, but most stem from "human-wildlife conflicts."

"One to two mountain lions are struck by cars a week in California, and it's the number one reason for mountain lion deaths in the state," he said, adding that the public needed to be better educated about how to interact with animals.

In June, an animal that was treated at the center was released back into the mountains near Los Angeles.

Wildlife photographer Johanna Turner, who uses remote cameras to capture animals in their natural habitat, said it does not take much to make the area around Los Angeles safer for mountain lions.

"I just want people to know how lucky they are to have this wildness, and it can go away," Turner said from a hill overlooking the city's skyline. "It can end so fast."

When P-22 died in December 2022 the outpouring of grief ended up being a wake-up call for Los Angeles.

Then last month, as often happens in Tinseltown, a new star was born when a Hollywood Hills resident captured images of another mountain lion before it disappeared into Griffith Park.

"We're so used to tragic stories about wildlife and having to just give up and say, 'This is a city... It just can't be that way here,'" Turner said.

"P-22 showed us it absolutely can."