Tropical storm prompts warnings
2007-09-01 19:00
Miami - Tropical Storm Felix is strengthening in the eastern Caribbean and could grow into a full-fledged hurricane on Sunday, the US National Hurricane Centre said on Saturday.
A tropical storm warning was issued for the Netherlands Antilles - Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao - as Felix's maximum sustained winds hit 105km per hour, the centre said.
At 15:00 GMT the storm was located over the eastern Caribbean north of Carupano, Venezuela and west of Grenada and was moving west at 30km per hour.
A warning for storm winds and heavy rain was issued for the Venezuela coast and the island of Margarita.
The storm's course meant it would likely pass to the north of the Netherlands Antilles on Sunday morning and would head toward Nicaragua's and Honduras' eastern coastlines and Belize, where it could make landfall on Wednesday unless the course changes.
If it develops into a hurricane, Felix will become the second hurricane of the three-month-old Atlantic season.
Last week Hurricane Dean swept through the southern Caribbean with severe winds and rains, leaving a wide swathe of damage and a death toll of 30 from Martinique to Mexico.