8 dead after Hurricane Grace hits Mexico

At least eight people died after Hurricane Grace hit Mexico’s Gulf coast and swept inland Saturday, according to Mexican authorities, though the storm eventually dissipated by mid-afternoon. 

The hurricane hit the coast as a Category 3 storm, making its second landfall in the country in two days, according to The Associated Press. 

Cuitláhuac García Jiménez, governor of Mexico’s Veracruz state, said Saturday that there were children among those reported dead following the storm, with three other people missing following mudslides and flooding caused by the hurricane. 

The storm also caused an estimated 330,000 people in the Mexican state to lose power, though the governor said it was gradually being restored, the AP reported. 

García Jiménez said during a news conference Saturday that the heavy rainfall caused the deaths Saturday, according to The New York Times. 

“We regret that they weren’t able to get out, following the instructions of civil protection,” he told reporters. 

Grace had previously been losing steam as it crossed over the Yucatan Peninsula Thursday, but was able to regain strength after going over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. 

After hitting the coast as a powerful hurricane, Grace weakened to a tropical storm, traveling over mountains in central Mexico and eventually dissipating by Saturday afternoon. 

The National Hurricane Center said later Saturday that while the storm had significantly weakened, “lingering rainfall” could be expected over central Mexico in the evening. 

The center also warned that the remnants of Grace could “result in additional areas of flash and urban flooding, along with mudslides.” 

In a final advisory, the center said that remnants “will likely move into the eastern North Pacific by Sunday afternoon, where it is likely to develop into a new tropical cyclone next week.” 

Grace earlier this week brought heavy rains as a tropical storm over Haiti, complicating rescue workers’ attempts to search for survivors of the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit the country last weekend. 

More than 2,000 people have been reported dead as a result of the quake, with dozens of individuals still missing.