Hurricane Erick slammed into Mexico’s Oaxaca state as a dangerous Category 3 storm Thursday morning, unleashing powerful winds at the coast while spreading heavy rain over the region. The hurricane made landfall about 20 miles east of Punta Maldonado,

Erick has been upgraded to an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 hurricane near Southern Mexico’s Pacific coast, the National Hurricane Center said. The major storm was about 70 miles (110 kilometers) west-southwest of Puerto Angel,

Authorities in southern Mexico were still assessing damage and watching rising rivers as rain from the remnants of Hurricane Erick doused the region