Hurricane Felix threatens Nicaragua and Honduras
05/09/2007
Hurricane Felix slammed into Nicaragua and Honduras on Tuesday as a potentially catastrophic Category 5 storm, lashing remote coastal villages with violent winds and torrential rains.
Felix made landfall at 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT) north of the small port of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, and was moving westward at 16 mph (26 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Centre said. Thousands of people sought refuge in storm shelters early as Felix, upgraded to an extremely dangerous Category 5 storm, approached the Central America coast provoking fears of a repeat of Hurricane Mitch, which killed some 10,000 people in Central America in 1998.
In Nicaragua, the only SOS Children’s Village that might be at risk of flooding is in Estelí. According to the national office, preparations have been made with the SOS Social Centre in the town to transfer mothers, children and staff, as they did with Mitch. It is not yet raining in Estelí, but the team could act immediately if needed.
SOS Children in Honduras is also on high alert, particularly after the bitter Mitch experience. In the capital city, Tegucigalpa, it is not raining either, but the sky is dark. Universities, secondary and primary schools have closed for today and probably tomorrow. The SOS Children’s Village most likely to be affected if the storm hits the northern area are in the coastal towns of La Ceiba and Tela. The SOS Children’s Village La Ceiba, which the national office reported as being without communication is next to the famous “Pico Bonito” hill, but the national office has assured us that there is no danger of landslides, only fear of flooding.
Felix is the second hurricane and the sixth named storm of the 2007 Atlantic season. It is also the second Category 5 storm after Hurricane Dean, which killed 27 people in the Caribbean and Mexico in August.
A Category 5 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale is capable of catastrophic damage and heavy flooding. Hurricane Katrina, one of the most devastating natural disasters in U.S. history, was a Category 3 when it made landfall near New Orleans in 2005. Category 5 hurricanes are rare, but there were four in 2005. Others this year could bolster claims that global warming is fuelling stronger tropical cyclones.