Hurricane Felix has been upgraded to a category five - the highest level - as it sweeps through the Caribbean. The storm has moved into the open waters of the Caribbean Sea after toppling trees and flooding some homes on a cluster of Dutch islands. The US National Hurricane Centre said Felix was generating maximum sustained winds of 165 mph as it swept westward toward Central America. It is expected to skirt Honduras's coastline tomorrow before slamming into Belize on Wednesday as a hurricane capable of massive destruction. Felix has already lashed Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire with rains and winds, causing scattered power outages and forcing thousands of tourists to take refuge in hotels. Residents expressed relief it did far less damage than feared as the storm's outer bands grazed the tiny islands. The government of the Netherlands Antilles discontinued all storm watches and warnings for Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire on Sunday evening, according to the US Hurricane Centre. Tourists and residents on the three Dutch islands, off Venezuela, sought refuge in their homes and hotels. In Curacao, several homes in a low-lying area were flooded. At about midnight UK time the storm was centred about 390 miles southeast of Jamaica and was moving west-northwest at about 18 mph, the hurricane centre said.
Geez. I think we here in the Tampa Bay area have gotten pretty lucky the last few years. All the major hurricanes have missed us. Katrina was originally mapped out to hit us directly, but went up to New Orleans instead. I can only hope we're as lucky this year. The worst we've had that I can remember was Jeanne back in 2004. And it was only a tropical storm. But we still didn't have power for five days, and I lost my bedroom ceiling. I cringe to think of the kind of damage an actual hurricane would do. My thoughts are with the people in South and Central America. Living near the shore isn't all it's cracked up to be.
