Powerful Hurricane Lane slammed into a sparsely populated stretch of Mexico's Pacific coast south of the city of Culiacan on Saturday after battering the resort of Mazatlan with strong winds and rain, according to The Associated Press. The Category 3 storm knocked out power to at least parts of Mazatlan, a resort and retirement community popular among Americans, and forced officials to cancel the traditional Independence Day parade. It was projected to weaken slightly to a still-dangerous Category 2 hurricane before advancing 80 kilometers (50 miles) inland to slam the state capital of Culiacan, a city of 750,000, in the afternoon. Earlier this week, rains lashed coastal towns to the south, causing a landslide that killed a 7-year-old boy Thursday in Acapulco and flooding across western Mexico that forced hundreds of people to abandon their homes. With top winds near 205 kph (125 mph), the center of Lane was just off into the Pacific coast, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. A hurricane warning was in effect for a 350-kilometer (210-mile) stretch of coastline, from El Roblito to Topolobampo.
