Emily gathers force

Hurricane Emily churned through the Gulf of Mexico yesterday and was expected to gain power before slamming into the US-Mexico border area.

Emily was a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 150 kph in the morning but forecasters said it would recover some of its earlier power before hitting the border area this morning.

"Strengthening is expected during the next 24 hours and Emily could become a major Category 3 hurricane before landfall," the US National Hurricane Centre said.

Emily is expected to make landfall south of the border, and emergency workers in Tamaulipas state near the Texas border have already begun evacuating people from low-lying areas along the coast.

Emily killed five people in Jamaica in its swing through the Caribbean as a Category 4 hurricane, and several people died in Mexico in incidents indirectly caused by the storm.