Mexico braces for Hurricane Ernesto

Windows are boarded up on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, as residents prepare for Hurricane Ernesto to make landfall.

With top winds of 85 miles per hour (140 km per hour), Ernesto is predicted to hit the coast on Tuesday (August 7) night.

Heavy rain has already battered parts of the city Chetumal, leaving areas flooded in up to six inches of water.

Thirty-five shelters have been set up in the area popular with tourists.

Patricia Footit was evacuated from her beach-front hotel.

SOUNDBITE: CANADIAN TOURIST, PATRICIA FOOTIT, SAYING (English):

"They told us this morning via loud speaker that we had to be ready to evacuate in one hour. That was about 10:30 and I was still in bed. So I got up and packed and here I am."

Officials say the eye of the hurricane will likely hit a small fishing village first.

It will then move to the southern Gulf of Mexico, where state oil company Pemex has facilities.