Hurricane Ingrid and tropical storm Manuel target Mexico
Hurricane Ingrid is gathering strength and is expected to reach Mexico Monday. Mexican officials are preparing for hurricane Ingrid on one coast, and tropical storm Manuel on the other coast.
The forecast track of Hurricane Ingrid, produced by the US National Hurricane Center at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14, 2013.
National Hurricane Center
Hurricane Ingrid became the second hurricane of the Atlantic storm season off Mexico on Saturday, prompting the evacuation of several thousand people while Tropical Storm Manuelthreatened to cause flash floods and mudslides on the opposite side of the country.
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On Saturday evening, Hurricane Ingrid was packing maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph). The storm was centered about 195 miles (315 km) east of Tuxpan, Mexico and moving north at 7 mph (11 km).
The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said that if Ingrid stays on the forecast track, it's likely to reach the coast of Mexico on Monday.
In Tamaulipas state to the north, where the Hurricane Center says Ingrid will probably make landfall, the government said in a statement that Independence Day festivities were cancelled in the cities of Tampico, Madero and Altamira. The Sept. 15 and 16 celebrations commemorate Mexico's battle of independence from Spain.
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Officials in the Gulf state of Veracruz began evacuating coastal residents Friday night, and local civil protection authorities said that more than 5,300 people had been moved to safer ground. Of those, about 3,500 people were being housed in official shelters with the rest staying with family and friends. There were no immediate reports of injuries blamed on the storm.
More than 1,000 homes in Veracruz state have been affected by the storm to varying degrees, and 20 highways and 12 bridges have suffered damages, according to the state's civil protection authority.
A bridge collapsed near the northern Veracruz city of Misantla Friday, cutting off the area from the state capital. Thirteen people died when a landslide buried their homes in heavy rains spawned by Tropical Depression Fernand on Monday.
State officials imposed an orange alert, the highest possible, in parts of southern Veracruz.
Off Mexico's Pacific coast, Tropical Storm Manuel was moving with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph). It was 75 miles (120 kilometers) off the city of Lazaro Cardenas and 185 miles (300 kilometers) southeast of Manzanillo. A tropical storm warning was in effect from Acapulco to Manzanillo.
Manuel was expected to produce 10 to 15 inches of rain over parts of the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Guerrero, and life-threatening flash floods and mudslides were considered likely.
Elsewhere, the remnants of Tropical Storm Humberto were swirling in the Atlantic, far from land. It was expected to regenerate in a couple of days, according to the Hurricane Center.
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