Flights resume to Mexican Caribbean resort towns

* Cancun suffers biggest flight cancellations since 2009

* Power and water still out in some hotels

By Isela Serrano

CANCUN, Mexico, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Most flights resumed to Mexico's Caribbean coast on Friday as local workers swept up after Hurricane Rina wrecked travel plans and paralyzed the heart of the country's tourism industry.

Evacuations ordered in anticipation of Hurricane Rina forced tourists off beaches in the resort-studded coast, closing down shops and leaving Cancun's airport packed after some 160 flights were canceled.

The city had not suffered so many flight cancellations since the H1N1 influenza outbreak in 2009.

Airport operator Asur said more than 160 flights -- roughly split between departures and arrivals -- were due to run on Friday. Airlines canceled about 20 flights on Friday, adding to 141 earlier in the week.

Rina weakened into a tropical storm before hitting the eastern state of Quintana Roo, home to some of the country's most visited destinations, including Cancun and Playa del Carmen.

Still, heavy rains and 90 mile-per-hour (145-kph) winds whipped through tourist centers, breaking windows, felling trees and knocking out lights on the Atlantic coast.

"Last night I felt fear and dread. There was so much noise and lightning. It's quiet now," said Fabiana Praxedes from Sao Paulo, Brazil, who was spending her honeymoon in Cancun.

Power and water were out at some tourist hotels in Playa del Carmen but life was returning to normal after a night of heavy rain and winds.

On the pedestrian boulevard 5th Avenue, shop keepers and employees were pulling up steel shutters, dragging away sandbags and taking down protective measures.

While Rina weakened into a depression on Friday, the National Hurricane Center forecast more rains in the Yucatan Peninsula and the island of Cozumel, famous for its diving sites and coral reefs.

Cancun, the Mexican resort most visited by foreign tourists, was hit hard in 2005 by Hurricane Wilma, which caused extensive damage and ravaged the area's white sandy beaches. (Additional reporting by Patrick Rucker in Playa del Carmen, writing by Rachel Uranga; Editing by Doina Chiacu)