PUERTO ESCONDIDO, Mexico (AP) — Southern Mexico’s Pacific coast was braced for a Thursday morning impact with the approach of Hurricane Erick, which was upgraded to an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 early Thursday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

The storm is expected to bring “life-threatening” rainfall, flooding and storm surges, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Hurricane Erick powered up into a Category 3 major hurricane Wednesday evening as it bore down on the southern Mexico coast, threatening to unleash destructive winds, flash floods and a dangerous storm surge on the region in coming hours,