ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) — Powerful Hurricane Erick made landfall in Mexico’s southern state of Oaxaca early Thursday as a major hurricane before moving inland and weakening as it dumped heavy rain, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

The hurricane was downgraded from a Category 4 to a Category 3 storm as it landed, with maximum sustained winds near 125 mph.

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.