Hurricane Emily howled toward Mexico's Caribbean coast on Sunday bearing 150 mph (240 kph) winds, pounding waves and torrential rain, and causing chaos in Cancun as tourists fled resorts in its path. As an ominous stiff breeze signaled the storm's approach, thousands of tourists crushed into Cancun airport, many panicking as they were told flights were full and they should seek emergency shelter. Most hotels were already closed, Reuters reported. "We're in a foreign country. Most of the people don't speak English. It's very scary," said U.S. realtor Barbara Whetstone, close to tears after learning there were no flights home from the sprawling resort region. The second major hurricane of the season, arriving days after Hurricane Dennis ripped through Cuba and Florida, Emily was set to smash into Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula late in the evening after killing four people in Jamaica. Emily was already a Category 4 storm on the five-step scale of hurricane intensity and forecasters feared it could blow into a rare and potentially catastrophic Category 5, capable of leveling buildings. With authorities on standby to evacuate the entire Yucatan coast if necessary, some 40,000 tourists were pouring out of the area. Some 30,000 left on Saturday, out of 130,000 holidaymakers in the state of Quintana Roo. --More 2303 Local Time 2003 GMT
