Hurricane Paula roared off Mexico’s top vacation resort of Cancun on Wednesday without immediate reports of major damage, and it was projected to veer into western Cuba’s cigar-producting country.
The Category 2 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph (160 kph), swiped at the island of Cozumel and Isla Mujeres overnight on a northward advance and was about 60 miles (95 kilometers) southeast of Cancun early Wednesday.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Paula was expected to shift to the northeast and weaken slightly on a course that would carry it into western Cuba by Wednesday night or early Thursday.
