Hurricane Grace struck Mexico's Caribbean coast just south of the ancient Mayan temples of Tulum early Thursday, pushing a dangerous storm surge.
The Category 1 storm had already soaked earthquake-damaged Haiti, Jamaica, and the Cayman Islands en route to a direct hit on the Riviera Maya, the heart of Mexico's tourism industry.
Heavy rain and strong winds threatened to destroy flimsier homes and keep tourists off white sand beaches until it crosses the Yucatan Peninsula.
Grace's center struck just south of Tulum at 4:45 a.m. CDT (0945GMT) with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kmh), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
Quintana Roo Gov. Carlos Joaquín said over 300 people were evacuated, mainly from Carrillo Puerto and Tulum and the storm had knocked out power in some areas of Cancun and Playa del Carmen, Cozumel, Puerto Aventura, and Tulum
On Thursday morning, the streets of Tulum near where Grace made landfall were littered with tree branches.
One lane of the highway between Playa del Carmen and Tulum was blocked by a fallen road sign.
A gas station was destroyed when a large pavilion blew down, smashing two cars.
As it moved over land, Grace weakened to a tropical storm Thursday morning with 100 km (65 mph) sustained winds
It was moving west across the peninsula, west of Tulum.
The storm was forecast to re-emerge over the Gulf of Mexico Thursday night into Friday.
With little to stand in its way on the peninsula, Grace was expected to weaken slightly then regain hurricane strength in the Gulf of Mexico before making a second landfall in Mexico later this week.
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