CULIACAN (Reuters):

Hurricane Lane fizzled out yesterday after leaving a trail of destruction on Mexico's Pacific coast that killed three people, washed away roads and knocked down flimsy homes.

Lane lost punch after slamming into a low-lying coastal area south of the city of Culiacan on Saturday. The storm, which made landfall as a Category Three hurricane, slowed to a tropical depression yesterday.

Lashing rains turned small creeks into raging currents, washing away sections of roads and at least one bridge between Culiacan and the tourist city of Mazatlan. Dozens of trucks and their drivers were stranded.

Lane's winds also toppled electricity towers, trees and traffic signs. A handful of locals gathered on one broken bridge near Culiacan yesterday and stared at a small car which had been swept into a creek by a flash flood.

"It seemed like the world was ending," said Jésus Javier Quintero, describing the three-hour pounding from Lane when the hurricane hit with its full force late Saturday.

"The only thing that survived was our little house," said Quintero, a 30-year-old labourer who lived with his family in a small house on the Culiacan-Mazatlan highway. His work sheds lay in tatters.

Cut off

A convoy of 80 vehicles carrying rescue workers and firefighters set off south from Culiacan to try to reach the town of El Dorado, which was cut off because of damaged roads and floods.

The hurricane was about 95 miles (165km) east of Los Mochis and moving north at about 7mph (11kph). Maximum sustained winds had dropped to 30mph (50kph).

Meanwhile, Hurricane Helene strengthened into a Category Two storm yesterday but continued churning in the open Atlantic hundreds of miles from land, forecasters said.

The storm had maximum sustained winds near 105mph (170kph), significantly stronger from a day earlier, when winds of 80mph (130kph) were recorded.