Ida regroups into tropical storm off Mexico

Sat, Nov 7 08:58 PM

Enlarge Photo Damaged houses stand in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida in Barra del Rio Grande, Nicaragua...

Ida strengthened back into a tropical storm early on Saturday off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and was moving north toward the Cayman Islands, where the government issued a tropical storm warning.

The U.S. National Weather Service said Ida, which had weakened to a depression on Thursday, now carried maximum sustained winds of near 45 mph/75 kph and was located about 220 miles/360 km southwest of Grand Cayman Island and about 280 miles/460 km southeast of Cozumel, Mexico.

A tropical storm warning was in effect for Grand Cayman Island, the weather service said.

Ida, which dumped heavy rain along Nicaragua's Caribbean coast earlier in the week, is expected to move into the Gulf of Mexico Sunday night, by which time it could be reaching hurricane strength, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said.

The Mexican government urged people to avoid unnecessary travel in the Yucatan peninsula and imposed restrictions on coastal shipping.

U.S. energy companies said on Friday they were monitoring the storm's progress but had not yet begun evacuating any production platforms.

The Gulf of Mexico accounts for a quarter of U.S. domestic oil production and 15 percent of natural gas output. The Gulf Coast is also home to 40 percent of the nation's refining capacity.

A tropical storm watch remained in effect for the Yucatan Peninsula from Punta Allen north to San Felipe and for the Cuban province of Pinar del Rio.

(Reporting by Robert Campbell and Doina Chiacu)

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