Up to 85,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in Mexico as Hurricane Emily heads towards the Yucatan peninsula.
A tourism official said they had started to relocate people and thousands of tourists have already flown out of resorts such as Cancun.
US experts say Emily is a category four storm with maximum sustained winds currently near 250km an hour.
Emily has passed to the south of Jamaica, bringing with it torrential rains that could trigger flash floods and mudslides.
Emily comes less than a week after Hurricane Dennis caused more than two-dozen deaths as it rampaged over Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba and Florida.
