Miami, Dhu-AlQa'dah 1, 1437, Aug 4, 2016, SPA -- Hurricane Earl was downgraded by U.S. forecasters to a tropical storm early Thursday after hitting the coast of Belize with winds of 130 kilometers per hour (kph) and moving inland over Guatemala and Mexico with heavy rain. The storm, with maximum sustained winds of 105 kph, was located about 145 kilometers west of Belize City, said the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC). Earl made landfall as a category-1 hurricane near Belize City and was moving westward near 24 kph. "Additional weakening is expected as the center moves farther inland, and Earl is forecast to weaken to a tropical depression by tonight or Friday morning," the NHC said. On Wednesday, Earl hit the northern coast of Honduras with heavy rain. Officials said a large wave capsized a fishing boat in the Caribbean Sea, but 81 of the 83 people on board were rescued. The navy was searching for the two missing. Authorities also rescued four families in the coastal city of Trujillo after a river flooded. In Belize, the government opened storm shelters and urged residents of low-lying areas to move to higher elevations. Officials also closed the international airport, archaeological sites, and national parks, and canceled cruise-ship stops this week. Mexico discontinued all warnings associated with the storm. Authorities in the Mexican coastal state of Quintana Roo, to the north of the hurricane's path, reported some evacuations, while some people evacuated low-lying coastal areas in nearby Guatemala. The NHC said heavy rains would be a danger in southern Mexico through Saturday as Earl crosses the Yucatan Peninsula into the states of Tabasco and Veracruz. --SPA 17:41 LOCAL TIME 14:41 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w