26 seconds ago 2009-11-20T14:00:46-08:00
MIAMI (AFP) – Hurricane Ida is now a category two storm packing top wind speeds of nearly 100 miles (160 kilometers) per hour as it heads towards Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said.
The storm has already caused severe flooding and landslides that left 50 dead in El Salvador and hundreds homeless in Nicaragua.
Ida is currently about 100 miles (155 kilometers) north-northeast of Cozumel, Mexico, and is moving near 10 miles (17 kilometers) per hour, the NHC said.
A hurricane watch has been issued for parts of the Yucatan Peninsula, as well as for the area east of the Mississippi-Alabama border through the north-west area of Florida.
The NHC stressed that the hurricane watch does not cover the city of New Orleans, which was devastated in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina.
