Hurricane Grace heads toward hit on Mexico’s Caribbean coast

By FABIOLA SÁNCHEZ
Associated Press

TULUM, Mexico (AP) — Mexico’s Caribbean coast is readying for the arrival of Hurricane Grace, evacuating some smaller hotels, opening shelters and suspending ferry service to Cozumel as the Category 1 storm churns toward the heart of the country’s tourism industry. Grace is expected to make landfall before dawn Thursday between Tulum and the island of Cozumel. Gov. Carlos Joaquin said Wednesday that authorities would be evacuating hotels there that were not made to withstand hurricanes. On Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Grace had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kph) and was moving west at 18 mph (30 kph).