MEXICO CITY — The remnants of Hurricane Franklin soaked central Mexico Thursday, threatening mudslides and flash floods after the storm hit the country’s Gulf coast overnight.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center downgraded the storm to a tropical depression as it broke up over the mountains of central Mexico.
Franklin was centered about 20 miles north-northwest of Mexico City Thursday morning, with sustained winds of 30 mph (45 kph), with a steady rain falling in the nation’s capital and winds picking up. It was moving westward at 20 mph (31 kph).
Franklin became the first hurricane of the Atlantic season on Wednesday and hit north of Veracruz city as a Category 1 storm. Earlier, as a tropical storm, Franklin made a relatively mild run across the Yucatan Peninsula.