Felix becomes a tropical storm after slamming coast of Nicaragua.
Credit: NOAA

Track of Tropical Storm Felix.
Credit: NOAA

Hurricane Felix was downgraded to a tropical storm Tuesday after slamming the coast of Nicaragua earlier in the day destroying homes and crops and leaving at least four people dead.

Felix came ashore at 5:15 a.m. in northwestern Nicaragua as a Category 5 storm with winds of 160 mph. It was the first time that two Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes – the first being Hurricane Dean which struck Mexico Aug. 21 – made landfall in the same year, according to the National Hurricane Center.

By Tuesday night, Felix had weakened to a tropical storm near the border of Nicaragua and Honduras but forecasters said it still posed a major flood threat. Winds had dropped to 50 mph and were expected to continue to decrease.

Forecasters said Felix should dissipate over the mountains of Central America within 24 to 36 hours.

As of 11 p.m., EDT, Felix was over southern Honduras, about 100 miles east of Tegucigalpa. The storm was moving to the west at 12 mph.

Tropical storm warnings and watches for Honduras and Belize were all canceled.

Forecasters said the storm could drop 8 to 12 inches of rain across northern Nicaragua and El Salvador and 10 to 15 inches across Honduras. Up to 25 inches were possible in the mountain areas, they said, prompting warnings of potentially deadly mudslides and flash floods. Guatemala could see 4 to 8 inches of rain.

According to one responder in Nicaragua, the Civil Defense evacuated 15,000 people along the Coco River, Waspan, Bilwi and Cape Gracias a Dios. Extensive damage was reported in Waspan, Bilwi and Puerto Cabezas.

"Felix hit this morning (in) Sandy Bay, a scarcely populated area in the Caribbean," said Dámaris Albuquerque of Church World Service in Nicaragua.

"Hard winds and rains are pouring on Bilwi, the seat of this region," she said in a morning communique. "The roofs from houses, schools have been blown away. It's too early to assess damages because the winds are hitting hard. The Provincial Office of the Moravian Church is also heavily damaged. People are in shelters."

Felix had weakened slightly Monday, with winds dropping to 135 mph, but then picked up strength as it closed in on Central America as a Category 4 storm.

Felix rekindled memories of Hurricane Mitch which hit Nicaragua and Honduras in 1998. It was one of the deadliest storms in the Atlantic, leaving at least 11,000 people dead and causing more than $5 billion in damage.

Felix was the sixth named storm and the second hurricane of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season. The season began June 1 and ends Nov. 30.

Related Links:

• National Hurricane Center