Hurricane Karl, a category three storm, is now coming onshore in Chachalacas, a small coastal town to the north Veracruz City, the main port in the state of Veracruz, a state forecasting agency said Friday.

Fishermen take their boat out of the waters during strong winds and heavy rains brought by Hurricane Karl at Veracruz port in Mexico Sept. 17, 2010. Hurricane Karl bore down on Mexico's central Gulf Coast on Friday. [Barbara Dector/Xinhua]

"It is a category three hurricane, coming onshore north of the port of Veracruz in Chachalacas," Eduardo Sancez, forecaster for the National Meteorology Service (SMN), told Xinhua by telephone.

The hurricane had already crossed southern Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, which hosts the states of Yucatan, Quintana Roo and Campeche, and then crossed into the Gulf of Mexico where it gathered strength due to warm ocean waters. It was a tropical storm on the peninsula, with steady winds of under 120 kilometers per hour (kph), but it struck Veracruz with winds of more than 180 kph on Friday.

The National Civil Protection System (Sinaproc), run by Mexico' s Interior Ministry, declared a red alert for central and southern Veracruz, the highest alert on its five-step scale. It also issued an orange alert for northern Veracruz and the states of Hidalgo, Tlaxcala and Puebla immediately inland from Veracruz.

During a red alert, citizens must be ready at all times for evacuation while civil protection officials must be active at all times. Road transport is also limited and sea and air transport canceled except for emergency services. For both a red and orange alert schools and recreation services are halted.

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