The storm threatened to unleash destructive winds near where the eye crashes ashore, flash floods and a dangerous storm surge, forecasters said.

Erick weakened to a tropical storm after making landfall as a major hurricane on Mexico's southern Pacific coast on Thursday, leaving flooded streets, damaged boats and buildings in Oaxaca as authorities warned of dangerous rains.

Erick rapidly intensified from a 40 mph tropical storm Tuesday morning to Cat. 4 intensity at midnight Thursday morning. Just hours from landfall, Erick may be the first known Cat. 4 E. Pacific hurricane to landfall in Mexico prior to October in records dating to the late 1950s.