MEXICO CITY (AP) – Hurricane Franklin roared ashore on Mexico’s central Gulf coast early Thursday, threatening to pound a mountainous region prone to flash floods and mudslides with torrential rains and heavy winds.
Franklin strengthened into the first hurricane of the Atlantic season on Wednesday and its landfall early Thursday was its second on Mexican territory in three days. As a tropical storm, Franklin made a relatively mild run across the Yucatan Peninsula earlier in the week.
Authorities in Veracruz ordered classes canceled at public schools as a precautionary measure. Schools are frequently used as storm shelters in Mexico.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Franklin, a Category 1 storm, had maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (140 kph). The storm was expected to weaken as it moved inland.
Franklin’s center was about 70 miles (110 kilometers) north-northwest of the city of Veracruz, and was heading west near 13 mph (20 kph).
