Grace becomes major hurricane, barrels toward Mexico's Gulf coast

A man carries a fan and a box while walking past tourist boats that were moved from the water for safety as Hurricane Grace gathered more strength before reaching land, in Tecolutla, Mexico August 20, 2021. REUTERS/Oscar Martinez

TECOLUTLA, Mexico (Reuters) -Hurricane Grace rapidly intensified into a major hurricane on Friday night as it barreled towards Mexico's Gulf coast, threatening to lash the oil-producing state of Veracruz and central Mexico with strong winds and heavy rains.

By Friday night, Grace was blowing maximum sustained winds of 120 miles per hour (195 km per hour), with higher gusts, making it "a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale," the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT2+shtml/210258.shtml.