Hurricane Felix Advances on Central America

The "potentially catastrophic" Hurricane Felix was today moving west over the Caribbean Sea towards Central America.

The US national hurricane centre in Miami said a hurricane watch was in place in Honduras, meaning the hurricane could hit the country within the next 36 hours. With winds of 165mph, Felix has been designated a maximum-level category five storm.

As of early this morning, Felix was 295 miles south-east of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 555 miles east of the Nicaragua-Honduras border.

But along the northern coastline of Honduras yesterday, tourists were still relaxing by hotel pools and enjoying the sun. In nearby Belize, residents stocked up on water and food, and nailed boards over windows to protect against strong winds. Many people who lived in low-lying areas were moving to higher ground.

The hurricane yesterday 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 inflicted far less damage than feared as the storm's outer bands skimmed the tiny islands.

Felix is the second Atlantic hurricane of the season after last month's Hurricane Dean, which killed at least 20 in the Caribbean and caused destruction from St Lucia to Mexico.

On Saturday, Felix brought heavy rains and strong winds to Grenada as a tropical storm, ripping the roofs off at least two homes and destroying a popular concert venue. No injuries were reported.

Tropical storm watches were issued for Grand Cayman and Jamaica, which was hit by Dean last month.

"Remember that Hurricanes Mitch, Wilma and Michelle passed far from the island yet tropical storm force winds, waves and storm surge damaged coastal areas," Barbara Carby, the director of the Cayman hazard management office, told the Associated Press.

Off the Pacific coast of Mexico, meanwhile, forecasters said Tropical Storm Henriette could today strengthen to a hurricane. Officials issued a hurricane watch for Baja California peninsula, a resort popular with Hollywood stars and sea fishing enthusiasts.

Henriette dumped heavy rain on western Mexico. In the resort city of Acapulco, three people were killed when a giant boulder fell on their home, and three more died when a landslide hit their house.

Rebecca Waddington, a meteorologist with the hurricane center, warned that both Felix and Henriette could shift course and said people in the general areas should remain alert, even if they were not in the direct paths of the storms.