Hurricane Lorenzo Hits Mexican Coast

Image provided by NOAA shows Category 1 hurricane Lorenzo taken at 11:15 p.m. Thursday Sept 28, 2007.

Lorenzo Strengthens to Hurricane, Makes Landfall on Mexico's Eastern Coast.

Lorenzo made landfall early Friday after strengthening rapidly into a Category 1 hurricane as it bore down on Mexico's Gulf Coast with powerful winds and rain, forcing authorities to evacuate low-lying coastal communities.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said the hurricane made landfall along the east-central coast of Mexico, southeast of Tuxpan.

Officials canceled classes and opened more than 60 shelters on the coastline of Veracruz state Thursday, as Mexico's government issued a hurricane warning from Palma Sola to Cabo Rojo.

At least 30 communities near several rivers were ordered to evacuate late Thursday. Residents scrambled to move furniture and belongings to higher ground even as roads began to flood.

"We never expected the hurricane would hit here," said Ribay Peralta, a 33-year-old lawyer who was packing his car with televisions sets, DVD players and other appliances in the town of San Rafael, a low-lying community about 9 miles from Veracruz's coast.

"San Rafael is a town that gets flooded easily," he said by telephone.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said late Thursday that Lorenzo was forecast to strengthen further before hitting land in the "next several hours" near the small port of Tuxpan. It warned that "preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion."

"The speed with which this storm is developing is forcing us to react as fast as we can," said Ranulfo Marquez, Veracruz's deputy secretary for public safety.

The ports of Tecolutla, Tuxpan and Nautla were ordered to close by midnight, Veracruz's port authority said.

The mountain ranges and river areas in the Gulf state of Veracruz are dotted with villages connected by precarious roads and susceptible to disaster. Hurricane Dean brought widespread flooding to the area in August, and in 1999 a rainstorm caused floods that killed at least 350 people.

At 2 a.m. EDT, Lorenzo was centered about 40 miles east-southeast of Tuxpan and was moving westward at 8 mph, the Florida-based center said. It had top sustained winds near 80 mph.