A woman walks near the sea before the arrival of hurricane Katia in Tecolutla of Veracruz State, Mexico, Sept. 8, 2017. Hurricane Katia intensified to Category 2 on Friday as it moved west-southwest across the Gulf of Mexico. (Xinhua/Str)
MEXICO CITY, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Hurricane Katia intensified to Category 2 on Friday as it move west-southwest across the Gulf of Mexico.
In a statement, Mexico's national weather service (SMN) said that "maintaining its trajectory and movement speed, it is estimated that it will reach land around 11 p.m. today near... Nautla, Veracruz."
The SMN has called on populations to take extreme caution due to rain, wind, and flooding in the states of Veracruz, Puebla, San Luis Potosi, Hidalgo, Tlaxcala, Oaxaca, Chiapas and Tabasco.
A lesser warning has also been extended to the central and northern areas of Tamaulipas, Queretaro, Morelos, the State of Mexico and Mexico City.
Meteorologists from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) have predicted that around eight tropical storm formations will be created in the Pacific and five or six in the Atlantic during the 2017 hurricane season.
Katia is currently one of three active hurricanes in the Atlantic, as well as Jose and Irma. The latter has left a trail of destruction across several Caribbean islands and is currently heading for Florida, U.S.
