Caribbean Storm Gathers Power

ORANJESTAD, Aruba (Sept. 2) - Felix gathered strength and became a Category 2 hurricane early Sunday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. The storm was forecast to pass just north of the Dutch Caribbean island.

Hurricane Felix: Location and Track | Projected Path | Watches and Warnings

Felix was upgraded from a tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane Saturday evening, becoming the second Atlantic hurricane of the season. By early Sunday, it had sustained maximum winds of about 100 mph and threatened to become a major hurricane as the day went on, the center said.

A tropical storm warning and hurricane watch were in effect for the islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.

In Aruba, about 20 miles off the coast of Venezuela, a line of jittery residents and hotel employees snaked through a hardware store in the capital of Oranjestad to purchase supplies.

"This kind of weather doesn't usually make it to Aruba, so people are definitely worried," said store cashier Mark Werleman.

At 5 a.m. EDT, Felix was centered about 85 miles east-northeast of Aruba and was moving westward at about 18 mph, the hurricane center said.

On Saturday, Felix brought heavy rains and strong winds to Grenada as a tropical storm, snapping small boats loose from their moorings, temporarily knocking out local radio and TV stations and toppling utility lines. No injuries were reported.

A tropical storm watch also was issued by the government of Jamaica, which was battered by Hurricane Dean on Aug. 19.

Felix was on track to pass near Honduran resort islands Tuesday and plow into Belize on Wednesday.

On Honduras' Roatan Island, home to luxury resorts and pristine reefs, the weather was normal and guests were simply enjoying their vacations, said Mayan Princess Beach Resort & Spa employee Arturo Rich.

"We aren't evacuating people yet, but maybe on Monday" as the storm gets closer, he said.

The storm ripped roofs off at least two homes and destroyed a popular concert venue in the southern Caribbean island of Grenada. Orchards were left in ruin.

Jess Charles, 29, said he and his family hunkered down in their house in the town of Calliste as the storm's winds howled outside.

"It was really very, very scary," Charles told The Associated Press. "The wind was blowing so hard we thought our roof might come off."

Felix also spawned thunderstorms and downed trees in Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the twin-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. Those islands reported only minor damage.

Rebecca Waddington, a meteorologist at the hurricane center, advised employees of oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico to monitor Felix's progress and said the storm could reach the area in four to five days.

Along the Pacific coast of Mexico, meanwhile, authorities discontinued storm warnings as Tropical Storm Henriette moved out to sea.

Henriette dumped heavy rain on western Mexico earlier, loosening a giant boulder that smashed into a home in Acapulco, killing an adult and two children and injuring two other people.

A teenager and her two brothers also were killed when a landslide slammed into their house in a poor neighborhood of the resort city.

With maximum sustained winds of 70 mph, the storm was expected to become a hurricane Sunday. But forecasters put it on a path that would not threaten land until Thursday, when it could hit a remote section of the Baja California peninsula.

Associated Press Writer Linda Straker in St. George's, Grenada, contributed to this report.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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