SALT LAKE CITY — Hurricane Rina is plowing ahead towards several resorts on the Caribbean coast of Mexico, and tourists spent the day trying to get out in advance of the storm.

"We've been here only for two days, and we have to go back home. We've been waiting for this trip so long, and we have to go. Our hotel has been evacuated," Kristina Califa, a tourist from New York told reporters.

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Hurricane Rina aimed at Mexico resorts

Tourists fleeing Hurricane Rina crowded Cancun's airport Wednesday even as the cyclone lost some of its punch on a course for Mexico's resort-studded Caribbean coast.

Several couples from Utah, including Orem residents Erin and Chris Jackson, were also preparing to sleep in a hotel shelter Wednesday night.

"They're shutting the airport down tonight and all day tomorrow," Erin told KSL News. "They said flights would resume on Friday night, but who knows."

She said after a sunny day, it started to rain hard. Hotel staff began tying things down and prepared guests to stay in a ballroom if needed.

"This morning we were all freaked out a little bit, but now the hotel is a doing really good job of keeping everyone calm," Erin said.

Morris Murdock travel agent Amber Lee Johanson says travel to that part of the world this time of year always carries this storm risk. Her nephew, who is on a cruise in the region, is now being diverted.

"Instead of being able to go down into Mexico, now they're going to have to go up to the Bahamas; so they're kind of disappointed," Johanson said.

Forecasters predict the eye of the storm will move close to or hit the eastern Yucatan Peninsula by Thursday. They believe it could dump as much as 8 to 16 inches of rain on the eastern peninsula by the end of the week.

Email: jdaley@ksl.com

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