ORANJESTAD, Aruba - Hurricane Felix is gaining strength. It’s now a Category-Two storm with 100-mile-an-hour winds. And the National Hurricane Center says it could become a major Category-Three storm in the next 24 hours.
A Category 1 storm has wind speed of 74 to 95 mph; Category 2 is 96 to 110 mph; Category 3 is 111 to 130 mph
Felix is now expected to cross the peninsula, enter the western Gulf of Mexico and make a second landfall on the coast of mainland Mexico. It poses no threat to Louisiana.
Felix is only the second hurricane of the Atlantic storm season.
People in Aruba began stocking up on emergency supplies yesterday when Felix was upgraded from a tropical storm. The airport was described as busy but calm, as tourists headed home.
On Saturday, Felix brought massive rainfall and strong winds in Grenada as a tropical storm. Power lines were toppled, radio and TV stations went offline for a short period and two houses were left without their roofs by the raging wind.
Satellite images show the hurricane steadily expanding. It’s on track to brush by Honduras Tuesday and hit the Central American coast around Belize Wednesday.
The fierce storms are sweeping the region just two weeks after Hurricane Dean killed 18 people on its way across the Caribbean and provoked massive damage.