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 News from Around the Americas | September 2007 
Felix Weakens But Prompts Fears of Massive Flooding
 CNN
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La Ceiba, Honduras - Felix was barely clinging to hurricane status Tuesday, but the storm still posed a "major flood threat" and could dump as much as 2 feet of rain in some areas, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Authorities in Nicaragua were waiting until Felix's wind and rain subsided before venturing out to see whether anyone was hurt or in need of help.
There was concern the storm could be as destructive as Hurricane Mitch, which caused flooding and landslides that killed thousands in 1998 after it stalled over Central America.
Earlier, Felix sent about 12,500 people looking for shelter after it came ashore in northeastern Nicaragua near the Honduran border.
Felix made landfall around 7:45 a.m. ET as a Category 5 storm with wind reaching 160 mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
The storm's powerful winds tore the roofs off buildings in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, damaging the town's hospital and airport, according to Nicaraguan civil defense officials.
"We still don't know exactly how many dwellings have had their roofs torn off," Lt. Col. Rogelio Flores said. "There are damages in the airport in Puerto Cabezas. The wind lifted up part of the roof of the communications tower there."
So far, there have been no reports of fatalities, Flores said. Nicaraguan officials are trying to track down two boats carrying 35 fishermen that are missing, a government official told CNN.
By 5 p.m. ET, the storm's top sustained wind speed had dropped to 75 mph - making it a Category 1 hurricane, the NHC said.
Felix's rapid weakening is expected to continue as it makes its way across the mountainous terrain of Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala. Watch CNN's Harris Whitbeck describe Felix's impact »
Felix's center was about 110 miles west-northwest of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, and was moving west at about 14 mph, the hurricane center said.
"On this track, the center will be moving over Honduras tonight and early Wednesday," forecasters said.
Felix is the second Category 5 storm to hit the region this year, marking the first time two Category 5 storms have made landfall in a single hurricane season since the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration began keeping records in 1886.
Hurricane Dean slammed into Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula two weeks ago.
A Category 5 storm - the most extreme level on the Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity - is capable of producing "potentially catastrophic" damage.
Nicaragua's health minister, Maritza Cuan, told CNN that she and about 50 patients rode out the storm in a hospital in Puerto Cabezas. She could see the strong wind bending trees as the storm moved ashore, damaging the rooftops of the hospital and homes in the community of 50,000 people.
The roof of one shelter was so badly damaged that the people had to be moved to the hospital, Cuan said.
Thousands of people in Nicaragua evacuated ahead of the hurricane, many of them riding out the storm in 72 shelters set up mostly in the north, said Flores, Nicaragua's No. 2 civil defense official.
It is too early to tally the damage, but officials are concerned about the impact of the powerful storm on the impoverished region. Nearly 80 percent of Nicaraguans live below the poverty level, many residing in poorly constructed homes.
There was no immediate word on what Felix did to prime real estate along the Honduran coast. The region is home to hotels and expensive vacation homes.
The heavy rain Tuesday is expected to result in massive flooding and mudslides, particularly in central Honduras.
Miles north of the landfall location, Honduras set up a staging area in La Ceiba, where international aid and rescue workers waited out the storm.
Honduras' Bay Islands - Roatan, Utila and Guanaja - were evacuated Monday; 19 Americans were taken by helicopter to La Ceiba by the U.S. military's Southern Command, based in Miami, Florida.
However, some 14,000 Miskito Indians did not evacuate in time and rode out the storm in the isolated region along the Honduras-Nicaragua border.
Honduran government officials had scrambled Monday to try to find fuel for boats to evacuate the Miskito people but were unable to get to the remote region.
Felix is expected to dump between 8 and 12 inches of rain on northern Nicaragua and El Salvador, while most of Honduras will get soaked with up to 15 inches of rain. |
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