Hurricane Grace battered eastern Mexico with torrential rain and howling winds early on Saturday, causing power outages and downing trees after becoming one of the most powerful storms in years to hit the country’s Gulf coast.
Grace was whipping up maximum sustained winds of 201km per hour (125 miles per hour), a Category 3 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, when it slammed into the coast near the resort town of Tecolutla in Veracruz state in the early morning.
Small fishing towns and beach resorts were drenched with rain as Grace made its second landfall in the country in two days.
Fishermen pulled their boats out of the water and carried them inside harbours to prevent damage as the storm’s leading edge whipped at the coast, while merchants boarded up the windows of their businesses to protect them.
Federal authorities said much of central and eastern Mexico would be hit by torrential rain, but did not provide any early word of the damage caused by Grace.
Civil protection authorities in Veracruz said Grace had caused power cuts and brought down trees. Video footage and photos posted on social media showed some damage to buildings, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
Grace weakened as it moved inland but the National Hurricane Center warned of a dangerous storm surge – when seawater is pushed above its normal tide levels – as the hurricane struck.
By 7am CDT (12:00 GMT), it was a Category 1 storm with top winds of 150kmph (90mph). The centre was about 100km (60 miles) east-northeast of Mexico City, the Miami-based centre said.
Before Grace hit land, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador urged people in five states to seek shelter on high ground.
“I ask the people of the regions of Veracruz, Puebla, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas and Hidalgo to seek refuge in high places with relatives and in shelters that are being set up,” Lopez Obrador said on Twitter.
I join the call that is being made to ask the people of the region of Veracruz, Puebla, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas and Hidalgo to seek refuge in high places with relatives and in shelters that are being installed.
– Andrés Manuel (@lopezobrador_) August 21, 2021
Thousands of emergency workers from the civil protection service, the military and state power utility Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) were prepared for Grace, he said.
Through Sunday, the NHC forecast Grace would dump 150-300mm (6 to 12 inches) of rain over swaths of eastern and central Mexico, and up to 450mm (18 inches) in some areas. The heavy rainfall would likely cause areas of flash and urban flooding, it said.
In Tecolutla, residents spent hours on Friday afternoon taking hundreds of boats onto land to keep them safe.
“Here in Tecolutla, we’ve had a culture of prevention for many years,” said Ricardo Pardinas, who offers boat tours to tourists. “These weather phenomena have caused damage.”
Veracruz and its waters are home to several oil installations, including state oil firm Petroleos Mexicanos’ port in Coatzacoalcos and the Lazaro Cardenas refinery in Minatitlan in the south of the state. Grace hit land well to the north of these cities.
The hurricane was expected to weaken to a tropical storm by Saturday afternoon, the NHC said.
Earlier in the week, Grace pounded Mexico’s Caribbean coast, downing trees and causing power outages for nearly 700,000 people, but without causing loss of life, authorities said.
The hurricane hit early Thursday near Tulum, a Yucatan resort town famed for its Mayan ruins. Some families passed harrowing hours sheltering from cracking trees and flying debris.
As the storm approached, Carlos Gonzalez grabbed his toddler son and ran from his home with his wife to a shelter set up at a school, using his mobile phone light to find his way through darkened streets.
“The only thing I have left is what I’m wearing,” the construction worker said. “I knew my house wasn’t going to stand it because it’s made of cardboard. When the wind came I was really scared and decided to leave.”
There were no reports of deaths, but many streets were blocked by fallen limbs and trees that pulled down power lines, leaving thousands in the dark Thursday.
It also doused Jamaica and Haiti, still reeling from a 7.2 magnitude earthquake, with torrential rain.
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