Hurricane Emily roared toward Mexico's Caribbean coast on Sunday with dangerous 235-km-per-hour winds, causing panic in the resort town of Cancun as tourists fled coastal resorts and sought shelter with locals.

Emily, the second major hurricane of the season, has been rated an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 on the five-step scale of hurricane intensity, capable of doing severe damage to infrastructure.

It has caused panic in Cancun, which is known for its emerald water and night clubs.

Petrified tourists, who missed last-minute flights, sought shelter inside local schools and gymnasiums, and a fleet of buses was moving the tourists from Cancun to temporary shelters.

Some foreigners were relocated in the lobbies of luxury hotels inland from the coast by early evening, while flimsier hotels near the coast were closed and boarded up for the night.

Local residents also were expected to flee their relatively fragile homes to some 170 schools and community centers.

People around the country begun stockpiling food and water and authorities said they were ready with enough food to feed 60,000 to 70,000 people.

As thousands were evacuated from the islands of Isla Mujeres and Cozumel, and cabana resorts along the coast, some 170 tourists on Isla Mujeres signed disclaimer forms allowing them to stay at their own risk.

State oil company Pemex, a major supplier to the United States, has pulled out all of its 15,000 workers from offshore rigs in the southern Gulf of Mexico.

Strong winds downed a helicopter in the evacuation mission on Saturday night, killing the pilot and co-pilot.

Many feared Emily would become a repeat of Hurricane Gilbert, which tore up Cancun in 1988, razing homes and killing hundreds.

The Hurricane has passed 160 km to the south of Jamaica but still triggered dangerous flooding and mudslides there, which killed two adults and two children when a car in the southwest of the Caribbean country was pushed over a cliff on Sunday.

(Xinhua News Agency July 18, 2005)