Hurricane Grace lashes eastern Mexico, causing power outages, flooding

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 battered eastern Mexico with torrential rain and howling winds early on Saturday, causing power outages, flooding and downing trees after becoming one of the most powerful storms in years to hit the country's Gulf coast.

Grace was whipping up maximum sustained winds of 125 miles per hour (201 km per hour), a Category 3 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, when it slammed into the coast near the resort town of Tecolutla in Veracruz state in the early morning.