BULL BAY, Jamaica — Fishermen dragged skiffs ashore and surfers rode enormous waves as Hurricane Emily's winds strengthened yesterday to 155 mph, passing south of Jamaica and on track to make a direct hit on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula.
The Category 4 storm was on track to pass close to Grand Cayman Island overnight before smashing into the Yucatan Peninsula on its way to the Gulf of Mexico and possibly southern Texas this week.
Dave Roberts, a meteorologist with the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami, said it was the strongest storm to form this early in the Atlantic season since record-keeping began in 1860.
Mexican officials launched the evacuation of 85,000 people yesterday across more than 100 miles of coastline, including the resorts of Tulum and Playa del Carmen, and ordered the relocation of 30,000 tourists in Cancún. The state oil company, Petróleos Mexicanos, evacuated its platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.
In Mexico, long lines choked the Cancún airport as tourists rushed to leave. Businesses boarded over and taped windows to protect them from shattering.
"The locals seem pretty nonchalant about it," said Becky Hart, 29, a teacher from Madera, Calif., as she waited to board a plane. "But then at the hotel they started chopping down the coconuts from the trees and moving people from the top floors."
Emily's winds strengthened yesterday afternoon to near 155 mph and the storm could at times become a Category 5 hurricane — the strongest storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale once sustained winds top 155 mph, the hurricane center said.
Howling gusts kicked up 8-foot waves and bent palm trees double in Kingston, Jamaica's capital, last night. Torrential rains drenched parts of Jamaica's south coast and began spreading over the Cayman Islands, the hurricane center said.
Jamaican officials sent buses to evacuate hundreds of residents in flood-prone communities along the southern coast, but all refused to leave, said Nadene Newsome, spokeswoman for Jamaica's emergency management office.
In the seaside fishing village of Port Royal, on a peninsula just south of Kingston, storm-weary locals again boarded up windows and tied down metal roofs, just over a week after Hurricane Dennis sideswiped the island.
Hurricane-force winds extended up to 60 miles and tropical-storm force winds extended up to 150 miles. The hurricane center warned the storm could dump up to 15 inches of rain over parts of Jamaica, raising the danger of flash floods and mudslides.
If Emily remains on track, it's likely to strike land in the eastern Yucatan tonight, lose some strength as it moves overland, then regain its dangerous energy in warm waters over the Gulf of Mexico, said hurricane specialist Jack Beven.
He said Emily was likely to make landfall again sometime Wednesday, but cautioned it was too early for a precise prediction.
Emily has unleashed heavy surf, winds and torrential rains across the Caribbean, hitting Grenada hard Thursday even as the island was recovering from the devastation of last year's Hurricane Ivan.
Grenada declared a national disaster Friday after Emily's winds ravaged hundreds of homes and killed at least one man.
Associated Press writers Jorge Rueda, Michael Bascombe and Mark Stevenson contributed to this report.
The outer bands of the Category 4 storm Hurricane Emily started to affect Jamaica shortly before 8:00am Saturday. Increasing winds and rain swept the island nation throughout the afternoon as the eye of the storm passed 100 miles off the southern coast. Utility poles were downed and storm debris closed the seaside highway to the international airport. Other roads were reported closed as well. 

While islanders did not get through the two storms unscathed, and 4 people were left dead, the Land and Environment Minister Dean Peart told reporters, "Mercifully, Jamaica was spared the worst".

Buses were sent by officials to southern coastal areas to evacuate residents from the flood prone region, but most refused to leave and preferred to ride it out beside 8 foot waves that pounded areas of the coast line. Wind gusts of 155 mph doubled over palm trees in the capital city of Kingston.

At a southern penninsula seaside fishing villiage, Port Royal residents boarded up and prepared for the worst again, as surfers gathered nearby to take on the challenge of 15 to 18 foot waves. "If I'm going to die, it's going to be right here," said a local resident Gordon Murphy, 39, with his 2-year-old son. "What's next?" he joked, "Hurricane Franklin?"

Many shops and businesses stayed open as long as they could, classifying it as another inconvenience despite its near Category 5 strength. Instead of the possible disaster that many prepared for, by late afternoon, Emily had all but disappeared. Light scattered showers in some areas of the island were the only remnant, as residents went about their lives after the second hurricane scare in as many weeks.

Supplies that many stocked for Dennis and Emily may yet be put to use. Many wonder what storms are yet to come. Authorities say this will be one of the most active hurricane seasons in history. Emily was the strongest and earliest to form this year since records, dating back to 1860, have been kept.

Earlier, Emily stuck Grenada on Thursday with nearly a direct hit. A national disaster was called the day after its winds ravaged hundreds of homes and killed at least one man.