Barbara upgraded to hurricane status

OAXACA, Mexico (AP):

Barbara rose to hurricane strength yesterday as it steamed toward a sparsely populated stretch of Mexico's southern Pacific coast, where it was expected to quickly make landfall.

Barbara's wind speeds hit 75 mph (120 kph), as its centre swirled just about 20 miles (32 kilometres) off the coast, the US National Hurricane Center in Miami said. It was moving north-northeast toward land at about 10 mph (17 kph), toward a sparsely populated stretch of coast.

Officials in the southern state of Oaxaca rushed to prepare emergency shelters and suspended classes for schoolchildren in coastal communities as rain began to lash the coast.

Mexico issued a hurricane warning for the Pacific coast from Puerto Angel to Barra de Tonala.

Rain had begun to fall along the coast yesterday, flooding some homes, he said.

Barbara is expected to quickly lose strength once it hits land.