Raymond strengthened to a Category 3 storm early Monday and threatened to hurl heavy new rains onto a sodden region of Mexico’s Pacific Coast already devastated by last month’s Tropical Storm Manuel.

01 / 3

Raymond strengthened to a Category 3 storm early Monday and threatened to hurl heavy new rains onto a sodden region of Mexico’s Pacific Coast already devastated by last month’s Tropical Storm Manuel. (BCCL)

See more of : Hurricane Raymond swirls off Mexico

02 / 3

Ports were closed, school classes were suspended and hundreds of people were evacuated along Mexico's southern Pacific coast on Monday as a major hurricane loomed over a region still recovering from record flooding a few weeks ago.

03 / 3

The area is on alert as Hurricane Raymond gained more strength and threatened to hurl heavy rains onto a sodden region already devastated by last month's Tropical Storm Manuel.