Hurricane Emily is getting near Jamaica on Saturday and may head toward the Mexican resort of Cancun Sunday morning, meteorological reports said.

Emily left one person dead in Grenada and another wounded in St. Vincent, the east Caribbean.

Although the hurricane continued weakening, its speed still reached 165 kph with even stronger gusts of wind during recent hours, the Cuban Meteorological Institute said.

According to US National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecasts, the eye of the hurricane could be some dozens of km away from Jamaica Saturday and later on head toward the Caiman Islands.

The Emergency Management Office in Kingston, capital of Jamaica, urged all residents in the south of the country to evacuate from coastal areas and banks of rivers and creeks, while Prime Minister P. J. Patterson ordered government offices to close.

Forecasts said the hurricane would cross over to the Gulf of Mexico and hit the continental areas of the Mexican city of Matamoros and the US city of Brownsville on Wednesday.

The NHC also asked the Domincan Republic and Haiti to prepare for tropical storm conditions while Emily heads toward the Gulf of Mexico.

Source: Xinhua