2 dead after storm Katia makes landfall in Mexico

Two people died Saturday in the Gulf Coast state of Veracruz in Mexico after storm Katiamade landfall and stalled, dumping heavyrain.

State Gov. Miguel Angel saidthe two died in the mountainous region in a mudsliderelated to Katia, which wasdowngraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm and then a tropical depression after coming ashore late Friday.

Katiamade landfall near the working-class beach resort ofTecolutla, asa Category 1 hurricane with winds of 120 km/h.the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

Thestorm has grown weaker has it moves into the interior ofMexico, but could still dump heavy rains on areas that haveabsorbed large amounts of precipitation and been shaken by amassive earthquake in recent days.

The centre said the storm would stall near the Sierra Madre Mountains.

• Powerful earthquake kills at least 61 in Mexico

Veracruz state officials said in a statement on Friday thatthe storm could cause landslides and flooding, and urged peopleliving below hills and slopes to be prepared to evacuate.

Massive 8.1 magnitude earthquake in Mexico kills dozens

7 years ago

Duration 0:59

Widespread damage occurs, aftershocks expected

Luis Felipe Puente, head of Mexico's national emergency services, said this week that Katia has "worrying characteristics" because it is very slow-moving and could dump a lot of rain on areas that have been saturated in recent weeks.

State energy company Pemex has installations inand around the coast of Veracruz but has not reported anydisruption to its operations.

Mexico is also dealing with the aftermath of a powerfulearthquake on Thursday night. The quake, the strongest to strikethe country in more than 80 years, killed at least 61 people.

• Hurricane Irma barrels toward Florida, millions told to evacuate

As Katia was making landfall, Hurricane Irma, one of themost powerful Atlantic storms in a century, walloped Cuba'snorthern coast as a Category 5 storm.

Millions of Florida residents were ordered to evacuate afterthe storm killed 21 people in the eastern Caribbean and leftcatastrophic destruction in its wake.

Hurricane Jose continued to gather strength far out in theAtlantic and was nearing Category 5 strength as it churned about700 kilometreseast-southeast of the Northern Leeward Islands.