Tropical Storm Nate makes landfall in Mexico's Veracruz state
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Xinhua, September 12, 2011
Tropical Storm Nate made landfall on Sunday in Mexico's state of Veracruz with maximum sustained winds of 75 kilometers per hour, forcing all Mexican oil ports to shut down while the civil protection system urged the population to exercise precaution.
Nate touched down just 100 kilometers north of the major Mexican port city of Veracruz shortly after 13:00 local time (1800 GMT) and was moving inland in western direction at 15 kilometers per hour, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
"The center of Nate will continue moving inland across the Mexican state of Veracruz this afternoon," said the NCH, adding that the storm was expected to weaken to a tropical depression later on Sunday before dissipating sometime on Monday.
Despite the weakening force, the Miami-based NHC warned that " tropical storm conditions are occurring along the coast within the warning are and will spread inland" and will produce "dangerous waves" while water levels will rise up to 1 meter above normal.
Mexico's Meteorological Institute also said Nate was dumping torrential rains of up to 250 millimeters in mountainous regions across the south-central part of Veracruz, increasing the risk of landslides and flooding in highland areas where poor indigenous communities are particularly vulnerable to flashfloods.
Tropical Storm Maria, meanwhile, brushed the outskirts of Puerto Rico at 11:00 a.m. local time (16:00 GMT) but was moving away from the Caribbean in north-western direction with maximum sustained winds of 95 kilometers per hour.
