Hurricane Erick: Mexican government asks citizens to 'stay indoors' while hurricane makes landfall

Hurricane Erick made landfall Thursday on the Mexican coast. After announcing its arrival with powerful rains and intense winds, it made landfall in the western Mexican state of Oaxaca as a Category 3 storm.

The hurricane registered maximum sustained winds of up to 127 miles per hour when it made landfall east of Punta Maldonado, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC). According to the same source, it is expected to continue its path towards southern Mexico during the day, weakening as it moves over the mountains in the area.

Heavy rains are forecast to cause "life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in areas of steep terrain" in the states of Oaxaca and Guerrero, the NHC said.

A dangerous "life-threatening storm surge" could cause coastal flooding near where the storm made landfall.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum thanked the population Thursday for responding "to all the calls from the authorities to take shelter in their homes."

"Given that [the hurricane] entered a short time ago, we are in contact with the Ministry of Defense and the Navy, who are in the area, and we will be able to report in a few hours what the effects are on these populations," she said in her usual press conference.

In the port of Acapulco, which in 2023 suffered the passage of Category 5 Hurricane Otis, hundreds of residents began to shop in stores on Tuesday, to load gasoline and buy water for fear of shortages. Otis caused roughly 50 deaths.