Powerful Hurricane Erick made landfall in Mexico’s southern state of Oaxaca early Thursday as a major hurricane before moving inland and weakening to a tropical storm. (AP/Luis Alberto Cruz and Amaran

The hurricane had been a Category 4 storm as it bore down from the eastern Pacific toward Mexico. The authorities ordered evacuations in Oaxaca and Guerrero.

Hurricane Erick made landfall on the coast of Oaxaca, Mexico, authorities said, potentially bringing intense rains and life-threatening floods and mudslides. The storm made landfall around 5:30 a.