VERACRUZ - Hurricane Grace slammed into Mexico for a second time early Saturday as a major Category Three storm, threatening to bring significant flooding and mudslides, US forecasters said.
The storm made landfall near Tecolutla in Veracruz state, clocking maximum sustained winds of 125 miles (200 kilometers) per hour, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC). Category Three is the third highest of five levels on the Saffir-Simpson scale. A hurricane warning was in effect for coastline stretching from Puerto Veracruz to Cabo Rojo.
“Rapid weakening is expected as Grace moves inland over the mountains of central Mexico later today,” the NHC said. Nearly 8,000 civil defense members, soldiers and electricity board workers were ready to tackle the aftermath of the storm, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador wrote on Twitter.