Hurricane Richard comes ashore in Belize

Hurricane Richard battered Honduras' Caribbean coast before reaching Belize
Hurricane Richard has hit the Central American nation of Belize, knocking out electricity and blowing off roofs, but no deaths or injuries were reported.

Richard, which blew in just south of Belize City, is expected to weaken as it moves towards south-eastern Mexico.

Some 10,000 people had taken shelter in schools and churches.

The hurricane is moving west-north-west at 15km/h (9mph), and is forecast to reach Mexico's oil-producing region in the Bay of Campeche by Tuesday.

Patrick Jones of the radio station Love News FM told the BBC that there was "massive flooding" in Belize City.

"A number of people have been calling for emergency services to come rescue them because they are either trapped by the rising water, or because their houses have collapsed," he said.

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Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale

Category 1: Strongest gusts less than 77mph (124km/h); little structural damage, minor flooding

Category 2: Strongest gusts 77-106mph (171km/h); roofs, trees damaged

Category 3: Strongest gusts 106-140 mph (225km/h); houses damaged, severe flooding

Category 4: Strongest gusts 140-175 mph (282km/h); major structural damage to houses

Category 5: Strongest gusts above 175mph; serious damage to buildings, severe flooding inland

Belize City, which has a population of about 100,000, contains a large number of wooden, tin-roofed homes that are vulnerable to strong winds.

Richard is rated as a category one hurricane, the lowest on the five-point Saffir-Simpson scale, and is the 10th storm of the hurricane season.

Earlier, the storm hit Honduras' Caribbean coast.

Lisandro Rosales, the head of Honduras' permanent emergency commission, said no deaths or injuries had been reported so far.

The storm was expected to weaken as it headed over northern Guatemala before crossing the Yucatan peninsula and re-emerging in the Gulf of Mexico, the US National Hurricane Center said.

However, Mexico's state oil company, Pemex, has so far not evacuated any of its oil platforms in the Bay of Campeche.

"We're still operating normally and monitoring," a spokesperson said.

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