VERACRUZ, Mexico — Tropical Storm Ernesto neared a collision with Mexico’s flood-prone southern Gulf Coast on Thursday after hurling rain across the Yucatan Peninsula but causing little major damage.
Ernesto spun through the southern Gulf of Mexico overnight, across waters dotted with oil rigs operated by the state oil company.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the storm’s sustained winds had increased to about 70 mph after getting over the water. It had grown into a hurricane shortly before landfall Tuesday night near the cruise ship port of Mahahual, but it weakened as it crossed the peninsula.
Forecasters said Ernesto was expected to come ashore in Veracruz state’s lush Los Tuxtlas region, roughly 50 miles northwest of oil port of Coatzacoalcos, and it could dump as much as 10 inches of rain, creating the threat of flooding.
At dawn Thursday, it was centered about 40 miles east-northeast of Coatzacoalcos and was moving to the west-southwest at 13 mph.