Tropical Storm Helene Slams Mexico; Hurricane Gordon Heads For Azores

Tropical Storm Helene made landfall off the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday and weakened into a tropical depression as it plowed up Mexico's east coast, said officials with the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

The depression was about 15 miles?south-southwest of Tampico and had maximum sustained winds of 35 miles per hour, said the NHC.

As Helene weakened, tropical storm warnings were discontinued on the Mexican coast, although it was expected to produce three to six inches of rain in the states of Veracruz and Tamaulipas.

Helene was predicted to continue weakening and dissipate within 48 hours, the NHC said.

There were no reports that Helene had affected the Gulf of Mexico's oil installations, which are built to resist much more powerful hurricanes.

Earlier, Portugal posted warnings for the central and eastern Azores islands as Tropical Storm Gordon moved eastward across the Atlantic and later turned into a hurricane.

The National Hurricane Center said Gordon had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph and was headed east at 18 mph.

In?the northern part of Veracruz, a lush coastal state with hundreds of towns and villages sitting along streams and rivers that can swell dangerously in heavy rain many were evacuated as Ernesto approached last week, and flood damage made some 10,000 people homeless.

Source: http://freeinternetpress.com/story/Tropical-Storm-Helene-Slams-Mexico-Hurricane-Gordon-Heads-For-Azores-35722.html

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