Cancun area resorts empty as hurricane approaches

CANCUN, Mexico (AP) — Tourists abandoned Cancun and other resorts while Mexican authorities evacuated hundreds of residents from low-lying areas ahead of a weakened Hurricane Rina's pass along Yucatan's Caribbean coast Thursday.

Civil protection officials moved some 2,300 people from Holbox, an island where the Caribbean meets the Gulf of Mexico, and the federal government closed the archaeological sites that dot the coast. NASA cut short an undersea laboratory mission near Key Largo, Florida, bringing the crew back to land.

Lines snaked from ticket counters in Cancun's crowded airport Wednesday as jumbo airliners heading to Canada and Europe waited in pouring rain. Many …