October 5, 2005 (HDW) Veracruz, Mexico – Hurricane Stan was a Category 1 storm as it came ashore yesterday near the major port city of Veracruz on southern Mexico’s Gulf Coast. It carried with it the usual strong winds and rain associated with low intensity hurricanes. Mexican authorities have evacuated some Gulf oil platforms and are shutting down facilities along the coastline around Veracruz. Some evacuations along coastal towns were also ordered. Stan has been blamed for 35 deaths in Central America caused primarily by landslides from the substantial rain in El Salvador. Mexico City, more than 400 kilometers (250 miles) away, has received rain from Stan’s outer band.
A NASA satellite captured this image of Hurricane Stan on 4 October around noon time, several hours after it made landfall. At the time of this image, Stan was losing strength over land, but still had sustained winds of around 110 kilometers per hour (70 miles per hour), more than sufficient to cause widespread damage not only around the storm’s center. Stan was projected to cross Mexico and enter the Pacific, but projections at the time of this image suggested that it would not reform once back over water in the Pacific.