Hurricane slams into Mexican coast

TEPIC, Mexico -- Hurricane Kenna crashed into Mexico's Pacific coast on Friday, destroying houses and cutting roads in fishing towns while burying hotel swimming pools under seawater in the resort of Puerto Vallarta.

There were no immediate reports of death, but officials evacuated more than 20,000 people from coastal areas before Hurricane Kenna hit land about 40 miles northwest of Tepic with winds of 140 mph.

Waves thundered over the coastal boulevard of Puerto Vallarta, 60 miles to the southwest, and swept over hotel swimming pools. Power was out to much of the city.

Officials said they had received dozens of reports of looting in the resort city's cobblestone-lined center Friday night and ordered the downtown area closed until further notice. Police and soldiers were patrolling the area and the government news agency Notimex reported that eight people were arrested for looting.

"This is the most exciting thing that's happened to me since I gave birth," Dana Segura, a 55-year-old grocery clerk from Rohnert Park, Calif., said at a small hotel about a block from the seafront in Puerto Vallarta.

The brunt of the storm hit Nayarit state, where Gov. Antonio Echeverria met aides by the light of a battery-powered fluorescent lamp to monitor the crisis.