Oranjestad, Aruba – Hurricane Felix strengthened into a dangerous Category 5 storm Sunday and churned its way into the open waters of the Caribbean Sea after toppling trees and flooding some homes on a cluster of Dutch islands.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Felix was packing maximum sustained winds of 165 mph as it plowed westward toward Central America, where it was expected to skirt Honduras’ coastline Tuesday before slamming into Belize on Wednesday as a hurricane capable of massive destruction.
Felix lashed Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire with rains and heavy winds, causing scattered power outages and forcing thousands of tourists to take refuge in hotels. But residents expressed relief as the storm’s outer bands just grazed the tiny islands.
“Thankfully, we didn’t get a very bad storm. My dog slept peacefully through the night,” said Bonaire medical administrator Siomara Albertus, who waited out the storm in her home.
