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Global

Rick strengthens to Cat 5 storm off Mexico Pacific


    MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Hurricane Rick intensified to a top Category 5 storm off Mexico's Pacific coast on Saturday as it headed toward resorts on the Baja California peninsula next week, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

    A Category 5 storm ranks at the top of the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale and can cause catastrophic damage.

    Rick, the seventh hurricane of the eastern north Pacific season, was about 290 miles south of Manzanillo, Mexico, with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph.

    The center projected the hurricane turning toward the Mexican coast on Tuesday and slamming into Baja California on Thursday, also dumping heavy rain on the mainland.

    Pacific storms pose no threat to Mexico's large oil industry in the Gulf of Mexico, but the Baja California peninsula is popular with U.S. tourists for its resorts in the Los Cabos area.

    (Reporting by Robin Emmott; Editing by Peter Cooney)