 News this hour from townhall.com. I'm Keith Peters reporting. Barrel was battering Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula while officials in Texas urged coastal residents to prepare as the storm moves toward the Gulf of Mexico. Barrel hit Mexico near the resort town of Tulum as a Category 2 hurricane but weakened to a tropical storm as it moved across the peninsula. The National Hurricane Center expects Barrel to regain hurricane strength once it reemerges into the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.