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Tourists flee as Felix nears Central America
Hurricane Felix, a Category 5 storm, drove through the Caribbean yesterday towards Central America, where forecasters said it could arrive as a "potentially catastrophic" storm.
- AP
- Published: 00:37 September 4, 2007
Oranjestad, Aruba: Hurricane Felix, a Category 5 storm, drove through the Caribbean yesterday towards Central America, where forecasters said it could arrive as a "potentially catastrophic" storm.
Felix had sustained winds near 260 km/h as it headed west, according to the US National Hurricane Centre. It was projected to rake Honduras' coastline today before slamming into Belize tomorrow.
Tourists crammed Honduran airports seeking flights out before the storm, but some locals said they would ride it out.
"The tourists, they're evacuating. We're staying here," said Estella Marazzito, who works at a real estate company on the Caribbean resort island of Roatan. "It's not like the island is going to be totally empty. At this moment, it's what they call the calm before the storm. There isn't even a breeze," she said, but added, "We know it's a tremendous hurricane that's coming."
In Belize, residents stocked up on water and food, and nailed boards over windows. Many who live in low-lying areas were moving to higher ground.
And many were still cleaning up from last month's Hurricane Dean, which caused an estimated $100 million (Dh367 million) in damage, mostly to agriculture.
"I stopped cleaning debris and trees from my yard [because it] might just get messed up again," said Wayne Leonardo.
On Sunday, Felix toppled trees and flooded some homes on the Dutch islands of Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire in the southern Caribbean. Heavy rains and winds caused scattered power outages and forced thousands of tourists to take refuge in hotels, but it did less damage than feared as the storm's outer bands grazed the tiny islands.
Off Mexico's Pacific coast, meanwhile, Tropical Storm Henriette was forecast to strengthen to a hurricane before hitting the resort-studded tip of the Baja California Peninsula today.
With maximum sustained winds at near 110 km/h, Henriette has been lashing the western coast of Mexico, causing flooding and landslides that killed six in Acapulco.
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