Hurricane Grace closing in on Mexican shores

Veracruz, Mexico, Aug 20 (EFE) .- Hurricane Grace, a Category 3 tropical cyclone, which has kept Mexico’s state of Veracruz on alert, is expected to make landfall after midnight, following heavy rains and winds in the country’s central and northeastern coasts.

“Grace escalated to Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. It will make landfall in the next few hours, on the north coast of Veracruz, near the municipality of Tecolutla,” the National Water Commission said on Twitter.

With sustained winds of up to 195 kmph and gusts of 215 kmph, the cloud bands of the meteorological phenomenon have caused rainfall of up to 300 millimeters per square meter in a region historically hit by floods, north winds and hurricanes.

“The hurricane will enter through Nautla at approximately 1 am. Up to 7,829 police and navy officials are standing by,” President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in a social media message.

“I join the call being made to ask 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,” he said, adding that he was in constant communication with Veracruz’s Governor Cuitlahuac Garcia.

The storm put the three levels of government and armed forces on alert, activating all prevention protocols, ranging from setting up temporary shelters, implementing special operations and putting more than 5,000 security agents on alert.

Intense rains were registered in the area of ??the north coast and the central mountainous region, with gusts of wind; even in the port of Veracruz, the most important tourist and economic port in the Gulf, which was hit by high waves. EFE

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