Hurricane Grace lashes eastern Mexico, causing power outages, felling trees

Federal authorities said much of central and eastern Mexico would be hit by torrential rain, but did not provide any early word of the damage caused by Grace.

Hurricane Grace battered eastern Mexico with torrential rain and howling winds early on Saturday, causing power outages 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 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.

Federal authorities said much of central and eastern Mexico would be hit by torrential rain, but did not provide any early word