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Chetumal, Mexico • Tropical Storm Ernesto spun across Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula Wednesday, heading toward the country's oil heartland after forcing the evacuation of thousands of tourists and fishermen from beaches in Tulum and the Costa Maya.
There were no reports of storm deaths or major damage, though Ernesto ripped down billboards, toppled trees and cut electricity service as it hit the cruise ship port of Mahahual shortly before midnight Tuesday as a hurricane with sustained winds of 85 mph.
"In many places the windows were shattered," said Flori Cruz, a 27-year-old cook from the beach town.
Ernesto had weakened to a tropical storm while moving over land Wednesday, with winds near 45 mph, but it was expected to regain strength after emerging over the southern Gulf of Mexico in a region dotted with offshore oil rigs.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm was about 60 miles (95 kilometers) east of Ciudad del Carmen, an administrative center for Mexico's state oil company, and it was moving west at 15 mph. It was expected stay close to the coast before making a second landfall hear the key oil port of Coatzacoalcos in Veracruz state.
The oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos, announced Tuesday it was closely monitoring the storm, but did not report plans to evacuate any of about 200 oil platforms in the area.
The federal Communications and Transportation Department closed two of the three main oil-exporting ports in the Gulf of Mexico because of the storm conditions. Officials in Veracruz set up about 20 shelters in preparation for the storm, said Victor Hugo Ceron of the state civil defense agency.
Ernesto has been the strongest storm to form in the Atlantic Ocean since hurricane season began on June 1, said Hurricane Center meteorologist David Zelinsky, though stronger hurricanes hit Pacific coastal communities in May and June, causing at least three deaths.
"Up to this point, most of the systems have been relatively weak," he said.
Chetumal, the capital of Quintana Roo state, was the closest sizable city near where Ernesto made its landfall and officials moved more than 1,300 tourists there from resorts in Mahahual, Bacalar and other spots that were expected to see heavier rain and wind.
In the city of Tulum to the north, some 6,000 tourists sheltered in hotels away from the beach.
Luana Antonicelli, a 23-year-old tourist from Melbourne, Australia, said she and her 20-year-old brother left their beachfront cabana surrounded by tropical jungle and decided to spend the night at the Hotel Tulum, a 20-room, one-story building about two miles (three kilometers) inland.
"It's a bit annoying because I want to be on the beach, but these things happen," Antonicelli said, adding that she and her brother decided to stay outdoors as much as possible. "I see it as an adventure."
Soldiers and police evacuated all residents of Punta Allen and other low-lying coastal settlements, said Luis Gamboa of Quintana Roo's Civil Protection office.
The storm struck south of the big resort areas of Cancun and the Riviera Maya, but officials prepared shelters there as a precaution.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Gilma neared hurricane strength in the Pacific Ocean about 645 miles southwest of the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula, with winds near 70 mph. The storm was not expected to threaten land.