We better start watching this puppy:

http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at200794_model.html

Way too soon to worry about it. Don't get spooked.

Amanda, I'm not "worried" about it yet.....just vigilant.....take another look at it this morning.

210
ABNT20 KNHC 291513
TWOAT
TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
1130 AM EDT WED AUG 29 2007

FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC...CARIBBEAN SEA AND THE GULF OF MEXICO...

A TROPICAL WAVE LOCATED ABOUT 900 MILES EAST OF THE WINDWARD ISLANDS
IS PRODUCING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. ALTHOUGH THIS ACTIVITY IS
CURRENTLY DISORGANIZED...ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO
GRADUALLY BECOME MORE FAVORABLE FOR DEVELOPMENT AS THE SYSTEM MOVES
WESTWARD AT 15 TO 20 MPH.

AN AREA OF DISTURBED WEATHER OVER THE WESTERN ATLANTIC IS PRIMARILY
ASSOCIATED WITH A NON-TROPICAL LOW CENTERED ABOUT 260 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF CHARLESTON SOUTH CAROLINA. UPPER-LEVEL WINDS COULD
BECOME A LITTLE MORE FAVORABLE FOR DEVELOPMENT DURING THE NEXT FEW
DAYS...AND AN AIR FORCE PLANE IS READY TO INVESTIGATE THE SYSTEM ON
THURSDAY...IF NECESSARY. THE LOW IS EXPECTED TO DRIFT SOUTHWARD.

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS PRIMARILY LOCATED OVER THE YUCATAN
PENINSULA ARE ASSOCIATED WITH A TROPICAL WAVE. THIS ACTIVITY IS
EXPECTED TO MOVE OVER THE BAY OF CAMPECHE DURING THE NEXT DAY OR SO
AND WILL BE MONITORED FOR ANY SIGNS OF DEVELOPMENT.

ELSEWHERE...TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED DURING THE
NEXT 48 HOURS.

$$

FORECASTER AVILA/BLAKE

When a storm is 7 days away it is just too hard to make any firm calls regarding its eventual landfall location.

Yes, I fully agree that vigilence is important, however I can also tell you that living on the edge of fear of every storm heading your way can be nerve wracking. The 2004 & 2005 storm years were tough, 2006 was worrisome too.

Don't get me wrong - I am not saying that people shouldn't be prepared, I'm just saying that we can't start sweating bullets everytime there is a tropical wave on the horizon.

The hurricane season runs for 6 months a year - every year - anybody that isn't prepared (as well as you can be) and doesn't have some money socked away in case of evacuation is foolish.

I'm still suffering from PDS (post Dean syndrome)
what is the next one called?

Well Erin has already been and gone while you were watching Dean... so something begining with F?

Names for 2007...
Andrea
Barry
Chantal
Dean
Erin
Felix
Gabrielle
Humberto
Ingrid
Jerry
Karen
Lorenzo
Melissa
Noel
Olga
Pablo
Rebekah
Sebastien
Tanya
Van
Wendy

Thanks Gunnygirl - I was too lazy to dig the list out.

I'm tired aren't you.
Putting up plywood and taking it down, pull out the boat and put it back in, Pull up the dock boards and nail them back down.
I'm to old for this....stuff

I'll work on my attitude

Fa' real man! Not again!

Sigh...the price of paradise.

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=772&tstamp=200708

"The Hurricane Hunters have reported back from the tropical wave about 200 miles east of the southern Lesser Antilles Islands, 94L, and found a closed circulation with top winds of 30 mph. This qualifies 94L as a tropical depression, and NHC will likely upgrade it to Tropical Depression Six in their 5pm update. This storm has the potential to become a hurricane in the Caribbean by Sunday or Monday. Visible satellite loops show a considerable improvement in organization occurred today, with low level spiral bands wrapping around the center of circulation, and upper level outflow now visible on both the north and south sides."

There's a tropical system entering the Caribbean on a low- track beneath Dean. Something to be watched. Should become Hurricane Felix.

CNN is reporting this morning that Felix will be making landfall in "Bayleeze" Tuesday.

from a friend in Corozal

Felix is coming to Belize....

http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/tc_pages/tc07/ATL/06L.FELIX/ssmi/gif/full/Latest.html

So states Navy!!

Sept 5th -- 100 mph winds -- just a kitten!!

Projected to land in Belize City area.

yeah bad attitude elbert
:>

Am I remembering correctly?
100 mph winds weren't that bad,...?
wasn't it 150+ to 185 with Mitch and Keith?

where is this Bayleze anyway

Now upped to CAT3 (111-130mph) around noon on the 5th.

time to put the shutters up, pull the boat,and take the planks out of the dock deck. dang

Okay, now its time to get serious. First things first - I want our Jim JanMohamed back on the island! I guess he won't be getting any rest this season.

Here you go. Midday Belize time the storm is projected to be centered at 17.5 north and 88.0 west. 110 kts.

That's us.

Good luck, start preparing.

Amanda

Statement as of 5:00 PM EDT on September 01, 2007

the last aircraft pass through the storm a few hours ago indicated
maximum flight level winds of 70 kt and the stepped frequency
microwave radiometer (sfmr) showed 60 kt winds at the surface. Thus
the initial intensity is increased to 60 kt...and could be a little
conservative as hints of an eye feature have been observed on
visible satellite images.

The intensity forecast appears to be straight-forward. The main
question is how fast the storm will intensify. All of the global
models show an extremely favorable upper-environment and the waters
of the Caribbean Sea are very warm. It is a little puzzling why the
GFDL/hwrf are so slow to strengthen the system. So far...the
statistical models have done very well with this storm...and the
NHC intensity forecast is just a little below the SHIPS/lgem
models. It is of note that probability of rapid intensification...
as diagnosed by SHIPS...is rather high.

Felix has resumed a motion of 280/16 after a brief westward jog this
morning. A persistent ridge to the north of the storm should steer
Felix on a west or west-northwestward track for the next couple
of days. Thereafter...the forecast hinges on how strong the ridge
remains over the Gulf of Mexico. The UKMET/NOGAPS/GFDL/hwrf allows
a high over the central Gulf Coast to shift eastward near Florida
and causes a more northwestward track of Felix in about 5 days.
However...the GFS/ECMWF keep the ridge in place and maintain Felix
on a west or west-northwestward motion. In general the guidance
has shifted a little farther north from six hours ago...and the
official forecast is nudged in that direction as well.

Forecast positions and Max winds

initial 01/2100z 12.7n 65.3w 60 kt
12hr VT 02/0600z 13.1n 67.9w 70 kt
24hr VT 02/1800z 13.8n 71.4w 75 kt
36hr VT 03/0600z 14.5n 74.8w 80 kt
48hr VT 03/1800z 15.2n 78.2w 90 kt
72hr VT 04/1800z 16.3n 83.5w 100 kt
96hr VT 05/1800z 17.5n 88.0w 110 kt
120hr VT 06/1800z 19.5n 92.0w 65 kt

$$
forecaster Blake/Avila

Felix is expected to move past
Honduras at about 17 mph, so will not linger as long to dump heavy rains.
Even so, Felix's rains could reach 10-15 inches over Honduras, Nicaragua,
Guatemala, and Belize. Officials in those nations need to prepare now for
the possibility that Felix could bring a major flooding disaster to their
nations.

+++ from http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/show.html +++
Felix a major threat to Central America; new disturbance could develop
Posted By: JeffMasters at 3:09 PM GMT on September 01, 2007
Tropical Storm Felix lashed the islands of Grenada, Trinidad, Tobago,
Barbados, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines with winds near tropical storm
force and torrential rains this morning. Visible satellite loops show that
Felix is a small storm, but is steadily expanding in size and growing more
organized. Low level spiral bands have formed on the eastern side, and
there is one respectable upper-level outflow jet that has formed to the
storm's north. Dry air on the northwest side of Felix continues to hamper
its intensification, but the storm is small enough that dry air drawn in
from the north coast of South America has not been a problem.

Felix is a major danger to Central America

The latest GFDL model forecasts that Felix will intensify into a Category 2
hurricane by the time it makes landfall in Belize Wednesday. The SHIPS
intensity model is more aggressive, making Felix a Category 3 hurricane.
Given that the environment in the Caribbean is much the same as we saw for
Dean, I think we can expect a steady intensification of Felix to a Category
2 or 3 storm when it approaches the Honduras/Nicaragua border Monday night.
On the current projected track of Felix, it would pass just north of the
coast of Honduras, which would be an extremely dangerous situation for that
country.

When I started this thread 4 days ago, I hoped it would have a sudden death. Unfortunately not so. We all have to practice some positive thinking...........Back off Felix....Back off!!

WTF! The U.S. NHC is projecting a dead-on hit in Belize. Unlike Dean, I want this guy to continue heading due West with no turns North. Now, I'm just plain getting pissed

Damn we never got any " I partied with hurricane Dean" t-shirts out and now Felix is already taking over.

All of us who are in love with AC let's start practicing some positive thinking and mentally steer that SOB somewhere else.....we can do it!!

Hurricanes are never a time to party. People who party are a liability to the rest of us. If you even mention a hurricane party to anyone who was here for Mitch or Kieth I would not be surprised if you had a bloody nose or worse.
This is serious business.. Go party at San Ignacio. tommorrow-please--
We only have a certain amount of bodybags to go around.
If this storm stays on track--which it will to an extent--we will be on the killer side of this one--Dean will be a rainy day in comparison. We will get what Majahual got. But we have a reef-further out. The hard breeze will come from the south or south by south east--from the Caye Caulker direction--if the eye is in B.C. than Caye Caulker and us will bear the highest winds this storm has to offer.
Let's hope that the coast of Nicaragua tears Felix apart enough that we only have to deal with another rainy day.--Jim

http://hurricane.terrapin.com/

Hey, just a bottle or two of single barrel and hunker down!
Hurricane parties after the fact are great!

Design a shirt for the season, like, I survived 2007 hurricane season in Belize

Hurricane Felix has gone to category 2 overnight and looks to be getting stronger. Path is still directly at Belize. Felix's intensity has surpassed early official estimates, leaving room for greater intensity increases.

Take this on serious advisement.

Hello everyone. Hi, Elbert, I like the Elvis image. We're supposed to arrive in San Pedro on Thursday, guess we'll really be watching this one to see what to do. I sure hope it goes somewhere else. Good luck everybody.

Things will be ..All Shook Up' by then

We'll see who survives, it's just getting started.

Let's just hope folks stick to their plan, even though Dean wasn't as bad as predicted, FOR US HERE ON AC. Just a few hours out, things can change either way. Folks should plan for the worst and hope for the best, if not well prepared, in a place a safe distance away.

belizeonthebeach is right. It is not time to party. If you have ever been through a hurricane you will know that you need to have your wits about you at all times, before, during and after the storm. In Keith many folks that thought they were in safe havens ended up having to move DURING the storm. They had ropes tethered around their waists and waded through chest high water, getting cut by debris, metal roofing, broken glass etc. Please be sensible, and if you want to party go somewhere else. We don't want our brave NEMO support team having to risk their necks to save idiots.

Since Felix might well be a category four, it is certainly time to take stock of your personal situations and decide if you are willing and able to survive the aftermath of a cat four - no power, no water, no ice, no medicines, no fresh food. It sounds dire but could be a reality.

The 5 day now shows it to be a CAT4:

http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at200706_5day.html#a_topad

1st post, starting following post during Dean. Looks as if I'll be glued to site for a while. Have a just completed condo (Cloisters) on AC. You guys seem okay.

http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/tc_pages/tc07/ATL/06L.FELIX/ssmi/gif/full/Latest.html

It has "Jogged" more North again --

In this one -- it stays more off shore Honduras -- but when at 051200Z ---
16.9N 87.0W it then jogs seriously North/West -- looking to wipe out Belize
city once more -- with 138 mph winds. See appended.

The inland track is interesting --

Northern Belize is going to be East - North -- and as such will bare the
worse of the storm --

Belmopan will be the South West -- and get what Corozal got from Dean -- which
is the least "effect" --

Still early to say for sure though.

But I would be betting -- one way or the other -- it seems to be heading this way

http://www.nlmoc.navy.mil/cgi-bin/viewtext.pl?File=/center/Tropical/wtnt01
http://www.nlmoc.navy.mil/center/Tropical/wtnt01.gif

The National Emergency Management Organization, NEMO Belize will be meeting in the Capital City of Belmopan at four p-m. They will be meeting to consider plans in the possible event of a threat of hurricane Felix.

Now Felix's track looks like Janet. Janet whipped through San Pedro in 1955. Severe damage and some deaths by drowning were reported back then.

Also predictions are that it will now be a Cat 5 when it makes landfall - most likely somewhere here in Belize.

At the office we were rehashing Hurricane Keith and we concluded that Hurricane Keith was probably a Cat 7 at times! Its the tornado type damage that makes you wonder if the category system might need to be revamped.

Look at what Katrina did to New Orleans - and then look at the "catergory" it was placed under.

The speed at which it approaches, hits and leaves will be the deciding factor of just how much damage we will incur.

Prepare now but keep praying that it will fizzle out or be severely downgraded when it interacts with Honduras.

Having spent many hour monitoring Dean, I need to know if this will be the official thread for Felix. Sorry not to post during Dean, It was almost too much trouble to log in when I could read the updates.

PS...glad to hear that you all survived Dean

Felix has gone well beyond previous intensity expectations and is now a dangerous category 4 hurricane at 140mph and getting stronger.

I think a new topic should be made emphasizing "dangerous" and "Hurricane" instead of "Tropical Disturbance".

Weather Channel saying Felix will be a Cat 4 when and I do mean when it hits "Bay-leeze"

just looking at the charts now. Felix is already a Cat. 4.

Batten down the hatches all......... start boarding up again now..
Good luck to all of you... we'll be watching praying for you guys again........

hoping to come back down in November........

053
WTNT31 KNHC 022359
TCPAT1
BULLETIN
HURRICANE FELIX SPECIAL ADVISORY NUMBER 10
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL062007
800 PM EDT SUN SEP 02 2007

...FELIX NOW A CATEGORY FIVE HURRICANE...

REPORTS FROM A NOAA HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT INDICATE THAT FELIX
CONTINUES TO RAPIDLY STRENGTHEN.

A TROPICAL STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR JAMAICA AND FOR GRAND
CAYMAN. A TROPICAL STORM WATCH MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM
CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE WITHIN THE WATCH AREA...GENERALLY WITHIN 36
HOURS.

INTERESTS ELSEWHERE IN THE CENTRAL AND WESTERN CARIBBEAN SEA SHOULD
CLOSELY MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF THIS SYSTEM.

FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...INCLUDING POSSIBLE
INLAND WATCHES AND WARNINGS...PLEASE MONITOR PRODUCTS ISSUED
BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE.

AT 800 PM EDT...0000Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE FELIX WAS LOCATED
NEAR LATITUDE 13.8 NORTH...LONGITUDE 72.9 WEST OR ABOUT 390 MILES...
625 KM...SOUTHEAST OF KINGSTON JAMAICA.

FELIX IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 18 MPH...30 KM/HR...
AND THIS GENERAL MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT 24
HOURS.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 165 MPH...270 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER
GUSTS. FELIX IS A CATEGORY FIVE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON
SCALE. SOME FLUCTUATIONS IN INTENSITY ARE TO BE EXPECTED OVER THE
NEXT 24 HOURS.

HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 25 MILES...35 KM...FROM
THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 115
MILES...185 KM.

THE LATEST MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE ESTIMATED FROM RECONNAISSANCE
DATA IS 934 MB...27.58 INCHES.

FELIX IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES
OVER THE GUAJIRA PENINSULA OF NORTHERN COLOMBIA.

REPEATING THE 800 PM EDT POSITION...13.8 N...72.9 W. MOVEMENT
TOWARD...WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 18 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...165
MPH. MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...934 MB.

THE NEXT ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE
CENTER AT 1100 PM EDT.

$$
FORECASTER FRANKLIN/BROWN

Re: Use of the Barefoot Iguana building as a Hurricane Shelter for Pets.



The Barefoot Iguana Club that is located on Coconut Drive here in San Pedro will be available for use as a hurricane shelter during the 2007 Hurricane Season for any kenneled animals as needed by Saga Society or private residence during an emergency situation. You must bring water, food, medications or any other items the animal will need for a one week stay. Items that will also be needed are newspapers, water and food bowls, leashes, collars, garbage bags, and Animal information. The information should include: animals name, type, age, normal feeding and watering schedule, any "catch phrases" that the animal will recognize, Owner name, address, emergency phone number. A release of liability will have to be signed by owners that choose to leave their pet.



Contact Info:

Yvonne Bond @ 226-4079 or 604-3730

Laura Raye Marlow @ 226-3400 or 625-4551



Best Regards,

Yvonne Bond

Owner \ Operator

Barefoot Iguana Limited

The club will be open for intake of pets at Noon on Tuesday.
Laura Raye

Good Luck and everything to all on AC. Own two proporties there and get all my news from this board. Please continue to keep us informed. Weather Channel now pronouncing the words correctly.

Felix is now a cat 5, and still has time to strengthen further. The hurricane hunters had to abort their latest mission due to extreme turbulence and graupel (like small hail). I am not aware of other instances of them having to abort in recent times.

I am very sorry you all are having such a difficult hurricane season. I will pray that the worst of this one spares the island and all of the region. If they do order an evacuation I hope everyone will take it seriously and move inland. Good luck all. Thinking of you here in Texas.

Shannon

PS - There is a thread for the threatened area at the storm2k message board as well, if anyone is interested:

http://www.storm2k.org/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=97650

Marty,

Is Reef Radio up and running? I'm trying to get in but I can't connect to server.

not up right now

Marty,
I'm kind of new to the hurricane season thing. Is this frequency and of cat 5 hurricanes a regular occurrence or is this a particularly bad year?

PS, thanks for the great post-Dean pictures.

bad year so far

The top weatherman in Belize says the storm is moving into some nice
warm water, and this temperature goes down to 90 feet so Felix is
going to be feeding very well.

Storm surge is predicted by some to be very high north of the storm - especially if it comes ashore at high tide.

Weathermen are worrying about a Mitch-like action once the storm
starts to interact with land. Some are rooting for one model that
sends this unwanted feline south to Nicararagua.

Another note was made to be aware of tornadic activity at landfall -
mini tornadoes with winds of between 200 and 300 mph - capable or
ripping off any non-concrete roof.

Yet another concern if it drifts north is that the north is already soaked.

Finally, the Chalillo dam will be inspected tomorrow to determine scenarios...

A hurricane hunter aircraft and crew were lost in a similar hurricane of similar track and intensity - Janet of 1955.
This hurricane is now a monster at category 5 - 165mph:

BULLETIN
HURRICANE FELIX SPECIAL ADVISORY NUMBER 10
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL062007
800 PM EDT SUN SEP 02 2007

...FELIX NOW A CATEGORY FIVE HURRICANE...

REPORTS FROM A NOAA HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT INDICATE THAT FELIX
CONTINUES TO RAPIDLY STRENGTHEN.

Man! I'm in the process of buying a place on CC and these hurricanes are certainly not confidence inspiring. Please help a brother out with some words of advise.

Looks like Felix could get pretty close.

http://www.stormcarib.com/closest.cgi

My husband and I returned from our first dive trip to Belize a few days before Dean. We absolutely loved Ambergris Caye, both the diving and the people. I held a shark and a manta ray "danced" about 3 feet in front of me. Needless to say our memories of Belize will always be wonderful and we will return soon. Our prayers are with all of you, and especially to the wonderful people at Portofino.

Things are looking MUCH better (for us) this morning if the current path holds.

Diver down I suggest that you go to the NOAA site (http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/) and look at the historical data. This isn't normal at all, just a bad year.

Yes! I cannot celebrate too much because Nicaragua and Honduras are looking to get hammered. I just hope the path stays due West for the sake of my Belizean friends.

The US Navy Called me to say their computer is placing the path through Monkey River town area which is between Placencia and Punta Gorda. However they warned me that it could bounce a little of the Nicaraguan coast and get into a slight northerly path, this of course could put the Caye's in jeopardy. I am concerned about the evacuation time span. I have been advised by both the US Navy and the Hurricane Centre that we should not leave it to the last minute to Evacuate, as this strength of storm could impact our waters way ahead of time.

The Cabinet meets at 8am and so does the San Pedro Emergency Committee and we will have an Update on The Reef Radio and Love FM.

James Janmohamed
NEMO District Coordinator
Operations Officer San Pedro Emergency Committee.

THE GOVERNMENT OF BELIZE HAS ISSUED A HURRICANE WATCH
FOR THE ENTIRE COAST OF BELIZE.

Belize is now under Phase I, 1st red flag (all of Belize).

Felix is moving quickly westward toward Central America as itmaintains category five intensity. An Air Force reconnaissanceaircraft penetrated the eye twice during the past few hours. Theeye diameter has shrunk to 10 N mi...and a central pressure of 931mb was measured...but that dropsonde did not quite catch the centerof circulation...so the pressure is estimated to be 929 mb. Maximum flight-level winds were 155 kt...corresponding to surfacewinds of 140 kt... but the advisory intensity is kept at 145 ktsince this mission might have just missed the maximum wind.The hurricane is moving in a rather straight line along a heading of280 degrees at about 18 kt...and the short-term motion might evenbe a little faster. The official forecast basically extrapolatesthe current direction of motion for the next 48 hours...with only agradual decrease in forward speed. After that a modest Bend to theright is forecast...although not all of the models concur...withthe GFS...GFDL...and ECMWF never taking Felix over the Bay ofCampeche. While inner-core structural changes could occur and leadto fluctuations in strength...I see no reason to forecast anysignificant change in the intensity during the next 24 hours whileFelix is guaranteed to still be over the warm waters of theCaribbean. Beyond that time the intensity forecast is greatlycomplicated by the exact track that Felix takes and the amount oftime it spends over land. If the hurricane moves a little farthernorth than the official track during the 24-48 hour period...itwill spend more time over water and would likely maintain a greaterintensity during that time. If...however...it moves a little southof the official track...it would spend even more time over land andcould weaken more quickly than indicated below. In addition...theforecast restrengthening to hurricane status on day 4 assumes thatFelix will in fact emerge over the Bay of Campeche.

Navy now says Felix to smite Honduras -- we get but some dregs of Felix -- way to the South -- and Felix still is "dry"

http://www.nlmoc.navy.mil/center/Tropical/wtnt01.gif

From the cheap seats up here sure looks like we now look safe except
for the extreme south.

However, note that most model runs are done at 6 or 12 hours intervals
as they are extremely complex.

Yesterday Navy had her coming to Belize, today it's Honduras. Midnight
where will they have it?

I have heard discussion referring to this cat as an annular hurricane
- which is the type of storm that befuddles forecasters and models.

Many variables, such as what happens when it begins to scrape northern
Nicaragua/Honduras, steering influences etc. Too early to determine
where this cat will jump.

Town is just humming this morning with people getting ready. Judging by the number of people walking around with their bags plenty of people are evacuating already.

Yes. From a selfish point of view it's good for us that PG-Placencia look as if they'll bear the brunt of the storm. But from an absolute standpoint the best news is that they're now forecasting it will have dropped to cat 2 by the time it hits our stretch of coast.

(For better or worse, we have 2 Felix threads now...I posted my speculation in re Felix's track over in the "Waiting Game" thread here.)

Flights on Continental are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay overbooked.

Felix roughs up the Hurricane Hunters, takes aim at Central America

Posted By: JeffMasters at 4:38 PM GMT on September 03, 2007

Hurricane Felix put on an incredibly ferocious burst of intensification
last night, winding up into a small but potentially catastrophic Category 5
hurricane. Felix now holds the record for shortest time for an Atlantic
storm to intensify to Category 5 strength. Felix required just 51 hours to
reach Category 5 strength after it started as a tropical depression. That
is a truly remarkable intensification rate, considering most tropical
cyclones take 3-5 days to organize into a Category 1 hurricane. The
tracking coordinates for Felix show that it has spent more of its life at
Category 5 strength than any other classification.


Hurricane Hunters walloped by Felix

NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft N42RF experienced a truly awesome and
terrifying mission into the heart of Hurricane Felix last night. Flying at
10,000 feet through Felix at 7pm EDT last night, N42RF dropped a sonde into
the southeast eyewall. The swirling winds of the storm were so powerful
that the sonde spun a full 3/4 circle around the eye before splashing into
the northwest eyewall. It is VERY rare for a sonde to make nearly a
complete circle around the eye like this.

As the plane entered the eye of the now Category 5 hurricane, they found a
17-mile wide stadium lit up by intense lightning on all sides. The pressure
at the bottom of the eye had hit 934 mb, and the temperature outside, a
balmy 77 degrees at 10,000 feet. This is about 24 degrees warmer than the
atmosphere normally is at that altitude, and a phenomenally warm eye for a
hurricane. N42RF then punched into the northwest eyewall. Flight level
winds hit 175 mph, and small hail lashed the airplane as lighting continued
to flash. Then, the crew hit what Hurricane Hunters fear most--a powerful
updraft followed a few seconds later by an equally powerful downdraft.

The resulting extreme turbulence and wind shear likely made the aircraft
impossible to control. Four G's of acceleration battered the airplane,
pushing the aircraft close to its design limit of 6 G's.

Although no one was injured and no obvious damage to the airplane occurred,
the aircraft commander wisely aborted the mission and N42RF returned safely
to St. Croix. N42RF is the same aircraft that survived a pounding of 5.6
g's in the eyewall of Hurricane Hugo in 1989. A special inspection of the
aircraft is planned for today to determine if it is fit to fly further
missions into Felix, and its scheduled afternoon flight into the hurricane
was canceled. Hurricane Hunter missions since have fared better, and no
more extreme turbulence has been reported.

Some good news for Central America

Although Hurricane Felix has intensified into a truly awesome and
potentially catastrophic hurricane, the prospects of a major flooding
catastrophe in Honduras and Nicaragua are much lower today than they
appeared yesterday. Firstly, the dramatic intensification cycle has spun
Felix into a very small, tight coil. A storm of this small size is much
less likely to pull in moisture from the Pacific Ocean over the mountains
of Honduras like Hurricane Fifi of 1974 did.

Secondly, the strong ridge of high pressure pushing Felix westward has
intensified, resulting in a greater forward speed for the hurricane. Felix
is now moving at 21 mph, and will not slow much during its passage over
Honduras. This will keep rainfall amounts lower than I expected. Thirdly,
it now appears likely that Felix will hit the Honduras/Nicaragua border
area, a very sparsely populated region known as "The Mosquito Coast",
because of its large expanse of marshy wetlands. This track will result in
the rapid weakening of Felix, limiting the rainfall from the storm.

A passage just north of Honduras would have been far more disastrous. It
will still be bad for Honduras--NHC is predicting 5-8 inches of rain, with
isolated amounts up to 12 inches--but this is far short of the 20+ inches
of rain that fell during catastrophic Hurricane Fifi and again in 1999
during Category 5 Hurricane Mitch.

The nations of Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico can
also breather easier, as Felix's rains should not cause the kind of extreme
flooding a larger storm would have caused. It now appears the Felix will
stay too far south to be influenced by the trough of low pressure forecast
to move across the U.S. later this week, so Texas appears safe from the storm.

I have started to blog Felix at http://galenaalysoncanada.blogspot.com

The resource links (forecast sources, imagery, discussion boards, webcams, webcast radio, and local Belizean news sources) have now been updated for Felix.

'Lena

NEMO Secretariat
State of Emergency Declared for Belize
By NEMO Information Unit
Sep 3, 2007, 12:00 pm




State of Emergency Declared for Belize



NEMO Headquarters, September 3, 2007- The Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Said Musa, in his capacity as Chairman of the National Emergency Management Organization, this morning (Monday, September 3, 2007) convened a special session of NEMO to make final preparations in the face of the imminent threat of Hurricane Felix to Belize.

At the recommendation of NEMO, the Governor-General, Sir Colville Young, has issued a Proclamation declaring a State of Emergency for the entire country of Belize. The Proclamation also calls out the volunteer elements to assist the uniformed forces to protect life and property.

The Proclamation of a State of Emergency is intended to smooth the process of mandatory evacuation, if it becomes necessary, and to facilitate the security forces in their efforts to protect life and property.

The process of opening of hurricane shelters will begin at mid-day today in all areas. The shelters will be open to accommodate those most vulnerable members of the communities who have no other place to go. This will also serve the purpose of having people in known locations if it becomes necessary for NEMO to declare mandatory evacuation of any of the coastal areas.

Persons moving into shelters should take with them sufficient food and supplies to last for at least three days. Limited food will be available for the indigents, the vulnerable, and those who cannot afford to supply their own food.

For those persons who wish to evacuate but cannot afford to move, NEMO will make arrangements for their transportation. These arrangements will be announced.

NEMO continues to urge those persons living at the cayes and in low-lying coastal areas to move inland to higher ground. At this point, NEMO recommends that those persons who evacuate from the outer islands move toward the Orange Walk District.


The Prime Minister has announced a price freeze on all goods and services in the country, and urges owners of licensed liquor establishments to refrain from serving alcoholic beverages while the emergency is in effect.

The Met Office will continue to give the public periodic updates on the location, strength and direction of Hurricane Felix. NEMO also continues to monitor the progress of the Hurricane and will keep the public constantly informed. Belizeans are urged to keep tuned to their local radio stations for the latest information.

Fingers crossed! Keep it up Felix, keep heading West.

OK Sir Isaac, Lena's callin' you out! She has an opinion about "wishing hurricanes elsewhere", but it's just too darned blistering to post here, so you'll have to look here on the blog for your abuse.

San Pedro Sun has pics and some videos. one is uploaded but not quite ready yet i guess at youtube but i'm sure very soon...

http://sanpedrosun.net/

Satellite image of Felix as it entered its rapid intensification cycle to become a Category 5 hurricane. A NOAA P-3 Hurricane Hunter aircraft was forced to abort its mission because of extreme turbulence shortly after this photo was taken.

JEFF MASTERS

Some good news for Central America
Although Hurricane Felix has intensified into a truly awesome and potentially catastrophic hurricane, the prospects of a major flooding catastrophe in Honduras and Nicaragua are much lower today than they appeared yesterday. Firstly, the dramatic intensification cycle has spun Felix into a very small, tight coil. A storm of this small size is much less likely to pull in moisture from the Pacific Ocean over the mountains of Honduras like Hurricane Fifi of 1974 did. Secondly, the strong ridge of high pressure pushing Felix westward has intensified, resulting in a greater forward speed for the hurricane. Felix is now moving at 21 mph, and will not slow much during its passage over Honduras. This will keep rainfall amounts lower than I expected. Thirdly, it now appears likely that Felix will hit the Honduras/Nicaragua border area, a very sparsely populated region known as "The Mosquito Coast", because of its large expanse of marshy wetlands. This track will result in the rapid weakening of Felix, limiting the rainfall from the storm. A passage just north of Honduras would have been far more disastrous. It will still be bad for Honduras--NHC is predicting 5-8 inches of rain, with isolated amounts up to 12 inches--but this is far short of the 20+ inches of rain that fell during catastrophic Hurricane Fifi and again in 1998 during Category 5 Hurricane Mitch. The nations of Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico can also breather easier, as Felix's rains should not cause the kind of extreme flooding a larger storm would have caused.

=====================================================

Hurricane Hunters walloped by Felix
NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft N42RF experienced a truly awesome and terrifying mission into the heart of Hurricane Felix last night. Flying at 10,000 feet through Felix at 7pm EDT, N42RF dropped a sonde into the southeast eyewall. The swirling winds of the storm were so powerful that the sonde spun a full 3/4 circle around the eye before splashing into the northwest eyewall. It is VERY rare for a sonde to make nearly a complete circle around the eye like this. As the plane entered the eye of the now Category 5 hurricane, they found a 17-mile wide stadium lit up by intense lightning on all sides. The pressure at the bottom of the eye had hit 934 mb, and the temperature outside, a balmy 77 degrees at 10,000 feet. This is about 24 degrees warmer than the atmosphere normally is at that altitude, and a phenomenally warm eye for a hurricane. N42RF then punched into the northwest eyewall. Flight level winds hit 175 mph, and small hail lashed the airplane as lighting continued to flash. Then, the crew hit what Hurricane Hunters fear most--a powerful updraft followed a few seconds later by an equally powerful downdraft. The resulting extreme turbulence and wind shear likely made the aircraft impossible to control. Four G's of acceleration battered the airplane, pushing the aircraft close to its design limit of 6 G's. Although no one was injured and no obvious damage to the airplane occurred, the aircraft commander wisely aborted the mission and N42RF returned safely to St. Croix. N42RF is the same aircraft that survived a pounding of 5.6 g's in the eyewall of Hurricane Hugo in 1989. A special inspection of the aircraft is planned for today to determine if it is fit to fly further missions into Felix, and its scheduled afternoon flight into the hurricane was canceled. Hurricane Hunter missions since have fared better, and no more extreme turbulence has been reported.

Anyone know where most people are evacuating to? Apparently the Mexican embassy has closed so no Belizeans can get their visas and therefore Mexico is off limits. Guatemala seems a bad option as if it hits Belize, it will get them too, and there'll be severe flash flooding in Peten. So even if you want to leave Belize, if you don't have a western passport (and of course money), you're not going anywhere outside Belize... Belize and Mexico need to sort something out between them for situations like this.

all over the mainland, chetumal, guat,

Well, you know what they say about opinions. Anywhooo, I barely have time for this forum, no less somebody's blog.

I am compiling a link list of people who are blogging the hurricane. Do you know of someone? Please comment at http://galenaalysoncanada.blogspot.com or email me at themisslena at gmail dot com. Thanks.

The intensity forecast at 24 hours
and beyond is uncertain because we are unsure of how long Felix
will remain over land. Since this hurricane has a small inner
core...the large mountains of Honduras could weaken the cyclone
more rapidly than indicated in the NHC forecast.
The hurricane continues to move westward at a fairly fast pace of 17
kt. The dominant steering mechanism continues to be a well-defined
deep layer high pressure area to the north of Felix. This regime
is forecast by the global models to persist for the next few days
with some weakening. Therefore a westward to west-northwestward
motion with some slowing of the forward speed is indicated. The
official track forecast is not much different from the previous one
albeit it has been shifted slightly to the south. This is in close
agreement with the latest consensus of the GFDL...U.K. Met.
Office...NOGAPS...and GFS dynamical models.

Good luck.

dropping south more...

I am concerned by what I see as a fundamental misperception of what the NHC's track forecast cone means.

As of Advisory 14A, all of Belize is still within the track forecast cone. This means that, if the forecast track is right (with its uncertainty as represented by the cone), then any point within the cone (from Ambergris to mid-Honduras) has an equal chance of seeing the eye. It does NOT mean that Ambergris has less of a chance that Punta Gorda.

I have attempted an explanation for the 17:00 BzT blog entry, with links to even more explanation. Please comment.

'Lena

Since this hurricane has a small inner
core...the large mountains of Honduras could weaken the cyclone
more rapidly than indicated in the NHC forecast.
The hurricane continues to move westward at a fairly fast pace of 17
kt. The dominant steering mechanism continues to be a well-defined
deep layer high pressure area to the north of Felix. This regime
is forecast by the global models to persist for the next few days
with some weakening. Therefore a westward to west-northwestward
motion with some slowing of the forward speed is indicated. The
official track forecast is not much different from the previous one
albeit it has been shifted slightly to the south.

http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/at200706.disc.html#a_topad

Ambergris Caye Emergency Response (ACER) ~

ACER-Friends & Family Tracker is a pre and post-disaster friends and family tracking system. Think of it as a web-based community bulletin board. It serves a couple of messages, like “I'm Ok”, or “Hey are you OK and where are you?” The web-based option allows people all over the world to see how you are doing and hopefully making the tracking of victims less of a challenge. The success of the system is up to you. Report your status, or the known status of someone else. – Stay Safe!

http://acerfriends.blogspot.com/

Sorry, but you are wrong! the cone represents a variation in course but is most likely on center and fades off to some arbitrary cutoff in likelyhood.
The Navy plot is a single line which in the past has been generally the most accurate predictor of all.

I always reserve the right to be wrong, and sometimes am, but not in this case.

I have just received personal correspondence from Derek Ortt, a professional tropical forecaster with the University of Miami, indicating that I indeed have it right.

With respect Jesse, what you have voiced is precisely the misconception I am concerned about.

'Lena

from a friend....

The simplest satellite graphic to watch the Pacific feeder to Felix forming up is
at:

http://www.goes.noaa.gov/FULLDISK/GEIR.JPG

It is doing that surprising rapidly -- and Felix grows huger accordingly.

Scary!!

Keep eye peeled and get to observe this in real time.

http://www.goes.noaa.gov/GIFS/HUIR.JPG

Here you can watch the outer bands to the North West expand as Felix
increases feed from the Pacific --

Certainly -- the Cayes will be getting some swells -- and soon!!

NEMO can't back off yet, this thing could still possibly veer, they will have to hold their position for a little while yet.

from a friend

I think Felix has done an eye wall replacement and tomorrow will tell
us how much it will intensify if any before coming onshore Belize, and
if it will wobble a bit more to the north.

Ambergris Caye could get swells similar to Mitch...a Cat5 that never got here but sent waves that demolished the beachfont, docks, dive shops and seawalls.

HURRICANE FELIX IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS HURRICANE AND COULD
RESTRENGTHEN BEFORE LANDFALL. FELIX IS CENTERED NEAR 14.5N 80.2W
AT 04/0000 UTC OR ABOUT 205 NM EAST OF CABO GRACIAS A DIOS ON
THE NICARAGUA/HONDURAS BORDER...MOVING W AT 17 KT. THE MINIMUM
CENTRAL PRESSURE ESTIMATED FROM AIR FORCE HURRICANE HUNTER
AIRCRAFT DATA IS 953 MB. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WIND SPEED IS 115 KT
WITH GUSTS TO 140 KT. THIS MAKES FELIX A CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE
ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE.

Marty, again thanks, it is so nice to have reliable information. I'd be lost without it. Thanks!

Are they experiencing electric problems yet? I'm suprised we haven't heard from a lot of the gang this evening...

Hmmmmm, probably busy hunkering and stuff TQ. Felix is still over a day away. My powers fine. Here in the land that time forgot we are many of us almost overprepared for what's expected.

No problems, I think we're all taking a downtime from the adreneline rush (and tension) and thanking our luck stars that the outlook for Belize is looking so much better. Even the forecasts for Honduras and Nicaragua are looking much more positive. Everyone has been working their butts off all day to prepare and we're all still ready for a change should it come.

Ah, good to see you guys on. My cable is out so I am soley depending on this site and it sure proved to be most accurate thing out there during Dean. Marty really is awesome.

Simon, thanks for the update and good to see you online, Simon. xo

Just woke up from a nap, time to eat and then back to sleep to be ready for what may come in the morning. It's very quiet outside, I think everyone has been doing the same thing.

Simon, thanks for keeping us up to speed. . . in a maybe not so strange way, I keep wishing I was down there sharing this with my new friends!

Gonna be old worn out friends at this pace!

11pm just came out:

http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at200706.html#a_topad

NEMO ANNOUNCES PHASE 2
September 03, 2007

Belmopan

NEMO officially declared the movement from Phase 1 (Preliminary anounced earlier today) to Phase 2 (Red 1 Watch). This indicates that a tropical storm or hurrican may threaten the country within 36 hrs. A Red 1 flag (solid red background with a centered black circle) should be at full mast in all district towns and cities; as Hurricane Felix continues to advance towards the country.

NEMO will continue to monitor the movement of Felix during the course of the night and additional updates will be issued if necessary based on the advice of the Belize Meteorology service.

Belize now out of the picture for any landfall. Even further south now:




from the 11:00 pm statement (forecaster Franklin)


The official forecast has been shifted a
little to the south of the previous advisory and now keeps Felix
entirely over land. As a result of the southward adjustment in the
track forecast...the intensity forecast is adjusted sharply
downward after 12 hours...and if the track forecast verifies the
small circulation of Felix is likely to dissipate much earlier than
shown below.

http://belizephotographs.com/art/2007090...805W.100pc2.jpg

waves still a factor.

from a friend

by the look of things at present we should be seeing some
tremendous cloud banks slowly approaching from the South East by tomorrow
Morning -- and all through the day.

We should also have some real "boomers" hitting the reefs out front with
large spectacular spray patterns -- and all kinds of salt water mists
blowing over you continuously.

That usually shorts out all the high tension lines -- and lights go out --
till BEL can get around to washing them off with Fresh Water.

Felix is now tracked further South - And forecast to a minor event for Belize!!

What is defined as "minor"??

Well -- how about Southern Belize getting Whacked by 30 to 40 kt winds??

better then a direct hit... !

Best Wishes and Safe Days ahead!
Thinking of you all.
Take care.
Dale

too bad buoy 42057 is out of service

Do you think Hopkins is in the direct path of this hurricane?

Felix is still a very dangerous Hurricane to Belize...not to mention Honduras and Guatemala. It could veer north along the coast of Honduras and pick up momentum again in the Bay of Honduras. Lets continue to keep a keen eye on Felix.

I'm really sorry to interfere Tradewind, but this is not a correct statement (unless it is strictly your personal opinion), and could lead some to unwisely lower their guard.

The NHC cone has been shifted south again as of 23:00 EDT. This means that northernmost Belize is now outside of the NHC forecast track cone.

There is statistically a 2/3 historical probability that the eye will fall within the cone, and a 1/3 probability that it will fall outside. Indeed, that is how the uncertainty cone is defined.

With regard to the currently forecast eye track, I agree (my personal opinion) that it now looks unlikely that northern Belize will get very involved with Felix. There is, however, still an excellent chance that the eye will pass over southernmost Belize, probably as a Tropical Storm.

Sorry to belabour this point, but Felix is still 36 hours out from Belize and anything can happen.

'Lena

Here is to hoping and praying for safety for everyone in the hurricane path. We travel often and have friends in different areas so we are always keep a close eye on these things. Has anyone heard anything about Roatan? Stay safe!

4521 people evacuated off of the islands including 3229 by boat and 1292 by air.

Here's the latest projections. Looks to stay west weakening over Honduras.


http://www.ih2000.net/ira/bmt-wth.htm

Thanks for the updates.

Still way south in track and headed slightly south of west.

Felix landfell as a rare catgeory 5 - 160mph hurricane at Punta Gorda, Nicaragua about 25 miles north of Puerto Cabesas.

Although Felix could make an unexpected turn towards Belize I believe the offical report and storm behavior so far are keeping Felix south of Belize. Though heavy rains could be an issue, I doubt Felix will have much left to it after crossing over the mountains of Honduras.

I saw the mention of evacuees on previous page....are they evacuating AC etc now?? Looking at the forecasted track it doesn't look like AC should be more than trop storm??/

No...voluntary evacuation was just cancelled and people can come back to the island. Phew.

cool reference guides ditch doc

I fully agree with Tradewind -- that sigh of relief in north Belize may now be sighed (in my opinion!).

But flashfloods and mudslides for our friends in Honduras and northeast Nicaragua...the news will not be good, I fear.

A freaky change could still bring Felix into the south of Belize, but he would be much diminished by passage through the mountains.

'Lena

all clear sounded for Belize

Status of Hurricane Felix

...FELIX MOVING OVER NORTHEASTERN NICARAGUA...MAJOR FLOOD THREAT
LOOMS...

At 12 o clock mid day The Prime Minister of Belize Rt. Hon. Said Musa declared an all clear phase for Belize, however from Independence south to the Belize Guatemala Border there remains a Tropical Storm Watch.

This morning I withdrew the volunteer evacuation phase for both Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker to stop people from carrying out any Evacuation.

The earlier notice of water being shut off has been rescinded. I am keeping the Coastguard on the Island to ensure safe return of our boats and evacuees. The police will keep a watchful eye on the repatriation of our residents and will stay on high alert until things get back to normal.

I am on standby for the south and will keep informed all concerned of any change to the situation. However the Relief and Reconstruction of the Corozal District will continue as soon as the storm has dissipated.

At this juncture I would like to say that without the people mentioned below my task would have been Impossible. I would like to praise:
Government of Belize, NEMO, San Pedro Emergency Committee, Caye Caulker Emergency Committee, Coast Guard, Belize Defence Force, The Police Department, Belize Fire Service, The Public Service, The Customs Department, The Immigration Department, Belize Electricity Ltd., The San Pedro Water Co. Ltd., Belize Water Service, Belize Telemedia Ltd., British Army Training Support Unit Belize,HMS Portland of The Royal Navy.

There were some challenging situations These people and their leaders worked diligently to insure the Safety and Security of all our residents, both of The Cayes and Corozal District.

I Thank God for sparing us again.

Regards,

James Janmohamed
NEMO District Coordinator.

Official at noon: Tropical Storm Watch from Placencia south.

Still bright and sunny out but the breeze is picking up and the outer bands are creeping slowly towards us.

http://weather.msfc.nasa.gov/GOES/goeseastconusir.html

well, the hurricanes are taking a terrible toll on the economic world of the cayes at this point. There are NO tourists on CC, you could follow the couple of them at this point and hope that they actually spend a couple dollars at your store, restaurant, or bar at this point. The people are worn out preparing, unpreparing, and feeling the hurt of 100's of people constantly bailing on the cayes for weather related issues. The water taxis are going into the city full, and returning with Zero people....
this is only the first week in September and things are not going well with this global warming NIGHTMARE that many continue to believe DOES NOT EXIST!
pathetic

<opinion>Global Warming may exist, but it's not man-made and has nothing to do with the cyclical nature of Hurricanes. To think otherwise shows the arrogance of humanity.</opinion>

That being said, I'm glad to see Felix has diverted away from my favorite place on earth, but also are keeping those now affected in my prayers.

"To think otherwise shows the arrogance of humanity."

<opinion>To think that humanity has NOT had an influence on the global environment and climate is arrogance of the highest level.</opinion>

from a friend

We are approx. 20 miles north of PG Town. (PG is almost directly in the
L-pocket.) Winds have been very calm since our return mid-day. Seas
previously calm with very small surf beginning now. We'd have made our 20
mile trip from Mango Creek in less than 40 mins. if we hadn't stopped to tow
for about 8 miles, and into Monkey River, a neighbor whose engine quit on
him.

Wind just now picked up from dead calm/possible-breath-from-the-west? to a
slight breeze from the sea. (It feels nice, actually.) Looks like it will
rain directly, but none so far.

Cloud cover in the distant SW was so heavy a few hours ago our satellite
link went out, but we got it back now.

If it rains, we will hear when it hits our industrial-grade galvalum roof.

from Corozal

nothing yet here

I tend to think like Lan stated -- not all clouds are going to drop
torrential amounts of rains.

The Charts were showing a relatively small system hovering in front of
Belize. That is probably what is hitting now -- but it is not that large.

I'd say we are going to come out of this OK --

from Belize City

Went to San Ignacio today, on the way back a small thunderstorm around
Blackman Eddy - since then very calm. Heavy, dark foreboding clouds
all over, thunder in the distance......

the skies just opened up over Belize City. Serious man rain underway and
even some slight blowing. Hello Felix.

from Placencia

Electricity just went out at 7:32 PM, CDT.

we had a sgual at 7:30pm which lasted for about 5 mins.

are you ok? :>

Funny how a little weather might deter the masses and redeliver them from paradise. Speaking from a northern clime, I can say that it's only a matter of time before visions of palm trees dance in our dreams while reality slaps us with below zero temps. For now, keep the faith, perhaps global warming will spank us with enough flooding and tornadoes to justify early trips to the tropics...not that we need a lot of persuasion to visit...Just hope the hurricanes leave our favorite places and peoples intact so we may enjoy their company again sometime. Even if we can't be there we are thinking about Belize and especially CC.

Good luck making it through the season!

From Belize Tourism Board

Greetings from Belize.

We are relieved to report that Hurricane Felix completely bypassed Belize
earlier this week and all our hotels, tour operators and tour guides are
open for business as usual. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people
along the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua where the hurricane made landfall on
Tuesday.

The government and people of Belize take the threat of hurricanes very
seriously and on Monday, September 3rd, the country of Belize was placed on
Hurricane watch. Hurricane shelters were opened and voluntary evacuations
were enacted on the cayes and low lying areas especially in the south of
the country. By Tuesday, the Belize National Emergency Organization had
declared the "All Clear" and many businesses re-opened.

Belize suffered NO DAMAGE from Hurricane Felix and hotels, tour operators
and tour guides throughout the country are open for business and welcoming
visitors. International flights were not interrupted and are scheduled as
usual.

Marty, Thanks so much for all your postings and info. We just bought a place on AC, and you and these boards have been a wealth of information...much better than any news sites! I'm not much of a poster, but I check in and read updates, and this is a great site....so thanks!!