Tropical Storm Rick pulls out trees, cuts power lines in Mexico

Oct 21, 2009, 18:04 GMT

   Mexico City - Tropical Storm Rick hit Mexico's northwestern coast with sustained winds of 85 kilometres per hour, pulling up trees and billboards Wednesday in the port of Mazatlan.

The eye of the storm was 25 kilometres north-northeast of Mazatlan, the Miami-based US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said Wednesday.

Rick made landfall near the port city in the state of Sinaloa at 7 am Wednesday.

The storm, which was once a category-five hurricane in the Saffir- Simpson scale, caused the death of one man Sunday in San Jose del Cabo, in Mexico's Baja California peninsula.

   Although that is the only hurricane-related death confirmed by the authorities, Mexican media also reported the death of a teenager who drowned in Cabo San Lucas and that of a man who was dragged by an overflowing river Saturday in the state of Sonora.

The Sinaloa state Education Ministry suspended lessons Wednesday and Thursday in central and southern areas of the state, as a preventive measure. Power supply was cut off in Mazatlan, and residents of vulnerable areas sought refuge in shelters.

Torrential rain was expected in Sinaloa and Durango.

'Rick is forecast to weaken as it moves inland and will become a remnant low later today,' the NHC said.