Tourists flee Hurricane Felix

2007-09-03 17:59

Oranjestad, Aruba - Hurricane Felix rapidly strengthened into a dangerous Category 5 storm and drove through the Caribbean on Monday toward Central America, where forecasters said it could arrive as a "potentially catastrophic" storm.

Felix had sustained winds near 265kph as it headed west, according to the US National Hurricane Centre. It was projected to rake Honduras' coastline on Tuesday before slamming into Belize on Wednesday.

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.

Power outages

And many were still cleaning up from last month's Hurricane Dean, which caused about $10 m 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.

"Thankfully we didn't get a very bad storm. My dog slept peacefully through the night," said Bonaire medical administrator Siomara Albertus, who waited out Felix at home with her Labrador retriever.

In Aruba, there was also little visible damage, although at least one catamaran snapped off its mooring, a house was damaged by a downed tree and power was temporarily knocked out in a northern town.

Felix is the second Atlantic hurricane of the season following last month's Hurricane Dean, which killed at least 28 people as ploughed through the Caribbean and then slammed into Mexico as a Category 5 storm.

Isolated rains

At 08:00 on Monday, Felix was centred about 425km south of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 685km east of Cabo Gracias a Dios on the Nicaragua-Honduras border. It was moving west at about 33kph, the hurricane centre said.

The hurricane centre said Felix could dump up to 30cm of rain in isolated parts of northern Honduras and northeastern Nicaragua, possibly bringing flash floods and mudslides.

It was projected to slash across Guatemala's Peten region and southern Mexico, then emerge in the southern Gulf of Mexico, an area dotted with major oil drilling platforms.

- AP