Tropical Storm Larry hits Mexico as hundreds flee

SANCHEZ MAGALLANES, Mexico -- Tropical Storm Larry hit the southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday, forcing hundreds of people to flee to shelters, while a second storm strengthened to a hurricane and threatened Mexico's Pacific coast.

Mexico has been bracing for three storms along its coasts this weekend.

Tropical Storm Larry is considered the most dangerous, but officials were also keeping a close eye on Olaf, which strengthened to a hurricane Sunday.

Olaf was moving parallel to the Pacific coast 145 miles south of Manzanillo, but a change of course could bring the hurricane onshore, the National Hurricane Center in Miami warned.

A second hurricane, Nora, was churning far off the southern tip of Baja California in the Pacific and was expected to weaken as it moves closer to land in the coming days.

Forecasts show that Nora and Olaf could both reach the peninsula, which already has withstood two hurricanes this season.

Larry, meanwhile, moved inland over Tabasco state about 55 miles east of the industrial city of Coatzacoalcos, provoking floods in an already saturated region.

Alarmed by the driving winds and rain, Alicia Tejera left her home in Malatinero before dawn Sunday carrying a 2-day-old child in her arms.

"I risked going out with my son, and it was worth it," said Tejera, who joined more than 300 people in a shelter. "I didn't know if this storm could cause a lot more damage."

The tropical storm turned the fishing village Isla Paraiso into a ghost town, with water standing 3-feet deep in some houses.

The storm's winds weakened steadily as it moved inland to 40 mph and Larry was expected to be downgraded to a tropical depression by late Sunday. Larry crept south at 2 mph toward the southern states of Chiapas and Oaxaca and could reach the Gulf of Tehuantepec on the Pacific Coast.

In Chiapas, authorities prepared 300 storm shelters for public use on Sunday as a safeguard against flooding.

Heavy rains could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides, the National Hurricane Center warned. It predicted rainfall of between 8 and 12 inches with even higher amounts in some locations.

The precipitation comes on top of a heavy monsoon season that produced swollen rivers and reservoirs.

The Mexican Army assisted people who chose to leave their homes, but the state of Tabasco held off full-scale evacuations.

Three major ports along the Gulf's southern coast also were closed.

Meanwhile, the Mexican government issued a hurricane warning for Mexico's Pacific coast as Olaf packed winds of 75 mph and was expected to strengthen over the next several days.

Authorities issued a warning for Punta San Telmo to San Blas, and a broader tropical storm warning from San Telmo to Lazaro Cardenas. Olaf was moving northwest at 10 mph.

Hurricane Kate, meanwhile, was still churning out in the Atlantic, far from land, but it weakened slightly with winds dropping from 115 mph to 100 mph Sunday. Kate was expected to continue weakening as it moves closer to Newfoundland in eastern Canada sometime Tuesday.