Hurricane Grace Hits Mexico With Major Flooding, Killing Eight

TECOLUTLA, MEXICO - Hurricane Grace pummeled Mexico with torrential rain on Saturday, causing severe flooding and mudslides that killed at least eight people, authorities said. The storm was one of the most powerful to hit the country's Gulf coast in years. 

Grace was whipping up maximum sustained winds of 201 kph (125 mph), a Category 3 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, when it slammed ashore near the resort of Tecolutla in Veracruz state in the early morning. The state government said eight people were killed, including six from a single family. All but one of the victims died in the state capital, Xalapa, including a young girl killed by a mudslide that hit her home, the government said. Meanwhile, an adult was killed by a collapsed roof in the city of Poza Rica farther north in the state, Veracruz Governor Cuitlahuac Garcia told a news conference.