Sharjah24 – AFP: Tropical Storm Rick brought strong winds, heavy rain and flooding to western Mexico on Monday but lost its hurricane force as it moved inland.
Rick made landfall on the Pacific coast as a Category Two hurricane with maximum winds of 105 miles (around 170 kilometers) per hour, the US National Hurricane Center said.
At 1800 GMT, Rick was located around 105 miles north of Lazaro Cardenas in the western state of Michoacan, packing winds of up to 60 miles per hour, according to the NHC.
"Continued weakening is expected this afternoon and evening, and Rick is forecast to dissipate over the mountainous terrain of Mexico tonight," the NHC predicted.
Heavy rain in the states of Guerrero and Michoacan "will likely produce flash flooding and mudslides," it warned.
At least 37 homes were flooded in Guerrero, home to the Pacific coast resort of Acapulco, while 15 more suffered damage to their roofs, state authorities said.
Dozens of trees were toppled and several roads were hit by landslides, officials said.
Mexico is regularly lashed by tropical storms on both its Pacific and Caribbean coasts.
The deadliest storm to hit Mexico this year was Hurricane Grace, which killed 11 people in the states of Veracruz and Puebla in August.
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