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Hurricane Ida strengthened off the Mexican resort city of Cancun on the Yucatan Peninsula on Sunday as heavy rains triggered by the weather system killed at least 91 people in El Salvador.

Salvadoran Interior Minister Humberto Centeno says 60 people are still missing, and about 7,000 more are in shelters after floods and mudslides touched off by three days of heavy rains.

He told reporters today that many towns are still cut off and officials have been unable to reach them.

The capital of San Salvador and central San Vicente province are the hardest-hit regions.

On Sunday, Ida’s wind and rain whipped palm trees in Cancun. Fishermen tied their boats down, though tourists seemed to regard Ida as only a minor setback. The hurricane grew to a Category 2 storm, and a hurricane watch now stretches from southeastern Louisiana to Mexico Beach, Fla. as Ida makes its way across the Gulf of Mexico.

In Louisiana, Governor Bobby Jindal has declared a state of emergency ahead of Hurricane Ida.

The declaration is considered a precaution allowing for state resources to be used for emergency or disaster situations.

Officials say the Louisiana National Guard and state Wildlife and Fisheries have been placed on high alert, with equipment and personnel available if necessary. State troopers in southeast Louisiana are also on alert.

Coastal stretches of southeast Louisiana, particularly areas outside levee protection, are the main concern. Forecasts indicate those areas could see winds, rains and high tides that could create localized flooding.

Forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Ida’s winds are now near 160 kph, and Ida could get stronger later Sunday.

The watch means hurricane conditions are possible in the next 36 hours. Ida could reach the Gulf Coast by Tuesday, though it was unclear how strong it would be by then.

Parts of the Yucatan Peninsula remained under a hurricane warning Sunday, and a tropical storm warning was in place for the western tip of Cuba with heavy rains expected.

Mexican authorities had no plans to evacuate foreigners from the beach resorts of Cancun and Playa del Carmen, popular with American tourists, but were moving residents of coastal areas into shelters.

The Mexican government urged people to avoid unnecessary travel in the Yucatan Peninsula and imposed restrictions on coastal shipping.

AFP/Getty Images

This November 4, 2009 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration handout satellite image shows Tropical Depression 11 formed just off the coast of Costa Rica.

Energy companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico, including Mexico’s state oil monopoly, Pemex, were actively monitoring the storm but have not yet evacuated any production platforms or curtailed output of oil and gas.

The Gulf of Mexico accounts for a quarter of U.S. domestic oil production and 15 per cent of natural gas output. The Gulf Coast is also home to 40 per cent of the nation’s refining capacity.

Ida first became a hurricane on Thursday off the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua before weakening over that country. It strengthened again on Saturday.

The storm’s heavy rains left forced more than 5,000 people into shelters in Nicaragua but the authorities said there were no reports of fatalities.