Mexico City
AP
—
Hurricane Erick powered up into a Category 3 major hurricane Wednesday evening as it bore down on the southern Mexico coast, threatening to unleash destructive winds, flash floods and a dangerous storm surge on the region in coming hours, forecasters said.
Swiftly strengthening from a Category 1 hurricane hours earlier, Erick had maximum sustained winds of 125 mph (200 kph) by nightfall as it churned offshore about 55 miles (85 kilometers) southwest of Puerto Angel, the Miami-based U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Erick was also about 125 miles (200 kilometers) southeast of Punta Maldonado and moving northwest at 9 mph (15 kph) toward an expected…
