MEXICO CITY, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Authorities have prepared over 3,200 shelters and deployed 8,100 troops in three Mexican states to prepare for the arrival of Franklin, which turned into a Category 1 Hurricane on Wednesday.
The director of the National Water Commission (Conagua), Roberto Ramirez, told a press conference Wednesday that Franklin was heading for the coast of the eastern state of Veracruz, with gusts of wind up to 140km/h and causing waves of 4-6 meters in height.
With a diameter of 600 km, Franklin morphed into a Category 1 Hurricane at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday and is predicted to make landfall over northern and central Veracruz after 1:00 a.m. on Thursday.
Ramirez warned it would cause torrential downpours on Veracruz, and the neighboring states of Puebla, Hidalgo and San Luis Potosi, with rainfalls potentially reaching more than 300 mm.
He said that authorities were on guard if the rain caused landslides in the four states.
"The largest part of the mountainous areas and part of the highways are susceptible to rockfalls. Our largest concern is there," said Ramirez.
Mexico's national coordinator of public protection, Luis Felipe Puente, called on those residing in at-risk areas to move into shelters and to avoid travelling at night.
He said that 2,023 shelters were ready in Veracruz, 1,058 in Puebla and 150 in the mountain communities of Hidalgo.
After forming in the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday as a tropical storm, Franklin passed over the state of Quintana Roo and the Yucatan peninsula without causing any damage, before picking up strength in the Gulf of Mexico.
