A hurricane warning was in effect for Belize and parts of Honduras and watches were posted for parts of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula as the storm churned toward land, packing sustained 85 mile (140 kilometer) per hour winds.

At 1500 GMT, it was centered about 95 miles (155 kilometers) east-southeast of Belize City and moving north-northwest at about 12 miles per hour (19 kilometers), the forecast said.

Winds "that make outside preparations difficult or dangerous" should be expected in the next 12 to 18 hours, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said. "Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion."

Richard, the 17th named storm of the season, is forecast to strengthen slightly before hitting Belize on Sunday evening and moving over land by Monday.

Flooding and landslides this year have killed more than 300 people in Central America, left tens of thousands homeless and caused billions of dollars in damage in recent months.

Mexico has also been hit hard by a series of storms in an unusually fierce hurricane season.

earlier related report
Megi downgraded to tropical depression
Beijing (AFP) Oct 24, 2010 - Torrential rain battered southwest China Sunday as Typhoon Megi was downgraded to a tropical depression after wreaking havoc in Taiwan and the Philippines.

Megi, the strongest storm to hit the northwest Pacific in two decades, killed 36 people in the Philippines last week and left 12 dead and two dozen missing in Taiwan as it edged towards China.

But it lost steam after making landfall in southwest China's Fujian province late Saturday night and China's state meteorological bureau downgraded it to a tropical depression early Sunday.

Torrential rains were expected in Fujian and neighbouring Zhejiang province throughout the day, the bureau said.

Taiwanese rescuers continued their search for 25 people left missing after Megi's heavy rains sparked widespread landslides along a coastal highway on the island.

Emergency workers over the weekend dug up nine bodies buried under the debris of a temple swamped by mudslides, while two more were found in houses and one in a port in northeastern Ilan county, the National Fire Agency said.

On Sunday, rescuers discovered the body of a woman at the site of a landside on the highway, a rescue official told reporters.

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