CANCUN, MEXICO—Hundreds of tourists and residents fled low-lying islands off Belize and beachgoers were warned to stay out of the water along Mexico’s resort-studded Caribbean coast Saturday, as rain from Tropical Storm Alex began lashing the region.

Alex, with maximum sustained winds of about 100 km/h, was expected to make landfall at Belize by nightfall, cross land and enter the Gulf of Mexico late Sunday. The storm appeared headed west of the massive oil spill in parts of the Gulf, but meteorologists warned that a storm’s track can quickly change.

gained speed as it approached Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, where it was expected to make landfall Saturday night before heading into the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Alex was not an imminent threat to oil-siphoning efforts at BP’s blown-out Macondo well in the Gulf, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

Current forecasts project Alex will emerge in the southern Gulf of Mexico and make landfall again as a minimal hurricane later in the week between Brownsville, Texas, and Tuxpan de Rodriguez Cano, Mexico.

That would spare BP spill collection efforts, forecasters said.

Alex, the first named storm of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season, carried sustained winds of 100 km/h and was located about 45 kilometres east-southeast of Belize City, Belize.

“Alex will move inland over Belize and the Yucatan peninsula in the next few hours,” the Miami-based centre said at 5 p.m. EDT.

Quintana Roo state authorities evacuated 200 people from fishing villages across the Chinchorro reef, near Belize, and Xcalak, famous for its diving spots, where Alex was expected to touch land.

Some rain was expected over Cancun, a major draw for U.S. and European visitors, but there was no threat to some 35,000 tourists in the area, civil protection said.

At least three cruise ships en route to the island of Cozumel, across from Playa del Carmen, another popular resort south of Cancun, changed course to avoid strong waves in the area.

Alex, the first named storm of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season, was moving Saturday afternoon but its speed was expected to decrease over the peninsula.

However, “some strengthening is forecast as Alex moves over the Gulf of Mexico by Monday,” forecasters said.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said a tropical storm warning remained in effect for the coast of Belize and the east coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula from Chetumal to Cancun and the islands of Roatan, Guanaja and Utila in Honduras.

Alex was expected to bring heavy rains through Sunday evening.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 and meteorologists predict this year will be a very active one.

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Hurricanes feed on warm water and the sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic are higher than usual this year.

In the Pacific, Darby moved farther from the Mexican coast and was downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane, 500 kilometres south-southwest of the Mexican beach resort of Zihuatanejo.

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