MEXICO CITY (AP) — Tropical Storm Dolly moved ashore late Tuesday and soaked Mexico’s Gulf coast, where authorities suspended school classes and readied shelters.
The U.S. Hurricane Center said Dolly was located about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south-southeast of Tampico on Tuesday evening. The storm’s maximum sustained winds were near 45 mph (75 kph) and it was moving to the west at 9 mph (15 kph).
The storm is expected to bring 5 to 10 inches (12 to 25 centimeters) of rain to states of Tamaulipas and Veracruz, along the Gulf coast and inland. Life-threatening flash floods and mud slides were possible in mountainous areas.
Tropical storm force winds extended outward up to 140 miles (220 kilometers) but weakening is expected to occur over the next 24 hours as Dolly moves inland.
Tamaulipas state authorities said earlier in the day that shelters were being readied and that classes would be suspended Wednesday in several municipalities along the Gulf coast. Authorities in neighboring Veracruz state ordered classes in the whole state suspended.
“Classes will be suspended in the whole state of #Veracruz because of Tropical Story #Dolly,” wrote Veracruz Gov. Javier Duarte on his Twitter account.
By Tuesday evening, several streets in the port city of Veracruz had flooded and least two streets where electric workers had been doing underground work had collapsed, damaging a house and several cars.
Another tropical storm, Norbert, formed off the Mexico’s Pacific coast on Tuesday.
By the late evening, Norbert’s center was about 115 miles (185 kilometers) southwest of Cabo Corrientes, or about 320 miles (515 kilometers) southeast of the southern tip of Baja California.
Hurricane forecasters said that on its current track, Norbert is expected to move away from the southwestern coast of Mexico early Wednesday, and approach the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula on Thursday.
Maximum sustained winds were around 45 mph (75 kph), and the storm was moving north-northwest at 8 mph (kph).
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