Hurricane Erick strengthens to Category 4

Hurricane Erick strengthened to an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 early yesterday as it barrelled toward Mexico's Pacific coast, the US National Hurricane Center said, waning of potentially deadly floods.

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Erick was expected to make landfall yesterday morning bringing “life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in areas of steep terrain’, the center's latest bulletin said.

By 11pm Wednesday night, Erick was moving northwest at a speed of nearly nine miles (15 kilometres) per hour with maximum sustained winds increasing to 145 mph (230 km/h) and higher gusts.

The hurricane could stengthen further before making landfall in the states of Oaxaca and Guerrero before weakening as it moves inland, forecasters warned. Mexican authorities said they were also expecting heavy rain in Chiapas state.