Storm upgraded to Hurricane Earl as it threatens Belize and Honduras

Tropical storm Earl has been upgraded to a hurricane as it bears down on the coast of Central America, threatening flash floods and mudslides in parts of Belize, Honduras, Guatemala and the Yucatán peninsula of Mexico.

The US National Hurricane Center in Miami said Earl had top sustained winds on Wednesday of 75mph (120kph). It was moving west at 14mph toward Belize and was about 150 miles (240km) east of Belize City.

Four hundred people have so far been evacuated from the Central American country’s northern islands Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker, a spokesman for Belize’s national emergency management organization told Reuters.

Belize’s government opened storm shelters and used radio and television broadcasts to urge residents of low-lying areas to move to higher ground.

Officials also ordered the international airport in Belize City to close, as well as archaeological reserves and national parks. The Belize tourism board announced that cruise ship calls have been canceled for this week.

The government’s chief meteorologist, Dennis Gonguez, said the storm should begin affecting the country around 6pm local time.

Long lines of traffic formed at gas stations around the country as residents filled their tanks in advance of Earl’s arrival. Stores were also busy with people buying water and food.

At the Palms Oceanfront Suites in San Pedro on Ambergris Caye, Ana Ico said the hotel began preparing two days ago and gave guests the option to evacuate to the mainland or stay at the hotel. About 12 guests have chosen to stay, Ico said.

“Some of them have decided to stay so what we’re doing is we’re giving them some water, flashlights and informing them as we get updated on the storm,” she said. Other guests chose to move to the mainland.

Honduras issued a two-day red alert for the Bay Islands, a popular tourist destination, after 88 shipwrecked fishermen were rescued off the country’s Mosquito Coast. Two men were still missing, a spokesman for the country’s emergency agency told Reuters.

The Bay islands’ main airport in Roatán was closed, as were two others near the Caribbean coast on the mainland.

The Honduran president, Juan Orlando Hernández, ordered classes canceled in seven Atlantic provinces, and the head of the country’s emergency commission warned of torrential rains, particularly along the northern coast.

On Sunday, Earl was a weaker tropical wave but knocked down power lines and started a fire that killed six passengers on a bus in the Dominican Republic.