Hurricane Grace slams Mexico's Gulf coast, killing 8 in flooding and mudslides

Hurricane GracepummelledMexico with torrential rain on Saturday, causing severeflooding and mudslides that killed at least eight peopleafter it became one of the most powerfulstorms in years to hit the country's Gulf coast, authorities said.

Gracewas whipping up maximum sustained winds of 201 km/h, a Category 3 hurricane on thefive-step Saffir-Simpson scale,when it slammed into the coastnear the resort of Tecolutla in Veracruz state in the earlymorning before weakening to a tropical storm.

The state government said eight people were killed,including six from onefamily, and three people were missing. All but oneof the victims died in the state capital Xalapa, including a young girl killed ina mudslide that hit her home, the government said.

As well, an adult died after a roof collapsed in thecity of Poza Rica further north in the state, Veracruz Gov.Cuitlahuac Garcia told a news conference.

"The state of emergency has not ended," he added.

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Local television showed severe flooding in Xalapa, withcoffins from a local business floating down a waterlogged
street. The nearby River Actopan burst its banks, shutting downa local highway, state authorities said.

Grace also caused power outagesand brought down trees. Imageson social media showed damage to buildings and carssubmerged by the deluge of rain the storm brought.

Garcia said several rivers in Veracruz would flood,and he urged the local population to take cover.

Television footage also showed flooding in Ciudad Madero inthe southern reaches of the state of Tamaulipas, near the borderof Veracruz. Mexican state oil firm Petroleos Mexicanos's(Pemex) Francisco Madero refinery is in Ciudad Madero.

Some flights cancelled, outages reported

Mexico City's international airport said some flights werecancelled due to the hurricane. National power utility theComision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) reported 565,000electricity users were affected by outages.

Grace weakened quickly as it moved across Mexico'smountainous interior, becomingatropical storm, with top winds of 75 km/h. The centrewas about 55 kilometres northwest of Mexico City, theMiami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

Before Grace hit land, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obradorurged people in the states of Veracruz, Puebla, San Luis Potosi,Tamaulipas and Hidalgo to get to higher ground or shelters.

Many appear to have heeded the call.

Grace misses oil installations

The NHChas forecast that Grace would dump 15 to 30 centimetres of rain over swaths of eastern and centralMexico, and up to 45 centimetres in some areas, through Sunday. The heavyrainfall will likely cause areas of flash and urban flooding, itsaid.

Veracruz and its waters are home to several oilinstallations, including Pemex's port in Coatzacoalcos and itsLazaro Cardenas refinery in Minatitlan, in the south.

Grace hit land well to the north of these cities.

Earlier in the week, Grace pounded Mexico's Caribbean coast,downing trees and causing power outages for nearly 700,000people, but without causing loss of life, authorities said.

It also doused Jamaica and Haiti, still reeling from a 7.2-magnitude earthquake, with torrential rain.