Delta bears down on Mexico's Yucatan

Cancun: Hurricane Delta made landfall in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday as an extremely dangerous Category 2 storm, roaring ashore between Cancun and the resorts of Playa del Carmen and Cozumel.

The US National Hurricane Center in Miami said satellite imagery, radar data from Cuba and surface observations in Mexico indicate that the center of Delta struck land near Puerto Morelos around 5:30 a.m. local time, sustaining top winds of 110 mph (175 kmh).

Quintana Roo Gov. Carlos Joaqu n warned residents and tourists that it is a strong, powerful hurricane. He considered it a good sign that Delta had weakened a bit late Tuesday, but said the area hadn't seen a storm like it since Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Delta had increased in strength by 80 mph in just 24 hours, and its top winds peaked at 145 mph (230 kph) before it weakened as it neared the shore.

Forecasters warned it was still an extremely dangerous storm nevertheless, with a life-threatening storm surge that could raise water levels 9 to 13 feet (2.7 to 4 metres), along with large and dangerous waves and flash flooding inland.

Thousands of Quintana Roo residents and tourists were hunkering down in government shelters. Everyone had been ordered off the streets by 7 p.m.

While top winds weakened slightly over land, Delta was expected to carve a path of destruction across the peninsula before moving into the Gulf of Mexico later in the day.