Milton moves away from the Mexican Caribbean coast with no reports of casualties and minor damage

Hurricane Milton, which intensified in the last few hours and reached Category 5 again, moved away from the coasts of the southern state of Quintana Roo on Tuesday, with no reports of fatalities or injuries in the main tourist destinations in the Mexican Caribbean.

The governor of Quintana Roo, Mara Lezama, reported a “clean balance” and lifted the alerts for the passage of the hurricane, during the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the state.

“Our state is out of major danger with Hurricane Milton moving away from our coasts,” said Lezama.

The Milton phenomenon has maintained an erratic trajectory in recent hours, after it approached and moved away from the Yucatan Peninsula, and for a few hours it dropped to Category 4, to increase in intensity again in the afternoon , while heading towards Florida, in the United States.

Authorities in Quintana Roo have asked the population to remain alert, as heavy rains could still occur.

The Secretary of Tourism of Quintana Roo, Bernardo Cueto Riestra, said that they are in constant communication with hoteliers and local authorities to guarantee the safety of the nearly 300,000 visitors who are currently in destinations in the Mexican Caribbean, especially in the northern region.

As for cruises, it was reported that those stopping in Cozumel and Costa Maya have been rescheduled.

In addition, navigation remains suspended due to strong waves and rain.

According to the latest report from Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, 23 flights have been cancelled, 11 arrivals and 12 departures.

In addition, two delays were reported, one on arrival and one on departure.

Despite these impacts, the airport continues to operate under strict security conditions.

During an EFE tour of the airport terminal, it was found that many passengers are still waiting to reschedule their flights.

Although the meteorological phenomenon is in the phase of disappearing, impacts on air traffic due to weather conditions are still expected.

In the Nichupté lagoon, which surrounds the hotel zone of Cancun, hundreds of tourist and recreational boats are still under protection, and the channels between mangroves are used as a port of refuge.

Restrictions on small-scale navigation are expected to be lifted on Wednesday afternoon.

Pablo Gutiérrez, general secretary of the municipality of Benito Juárez, to which Cancún belongs, highlighted the preventive work carried out by the three levels of government.

“The city has no problems, fortunately there was not much rain (…) We have no reports in the hotel zone, we have no puddles, we have no situation that has been reported through the command post,” said Gutiérrez.

Antonio Riverol, director of Civil Protection in Benito Juárez, commented that all the phenomena that have affected the area in recent weeks have very different characteristics, such as Beryl, which formed very far away in category 5 and weakened, or tropical storm Helene, which later became a hurricane off the coast of Quintana Roo.

“This hurricane Milton that starts in the Caribbean Sea in Nicaragua, crosses the Peninsula, forms in the Gulf of Mexico and returns, experts say that it goes in reverse, what it does is go east, a condition that is unlikely for hurricanes,” said Riverol.

Milton strengthened again this afternoon in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and became a Category 5 hurricane again, as it approaches the west coast of Florida, where it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday night, according to the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC).