Hurricanes Felix and Henriette make history by Matt Taylor
Felix and Henriette made history yesterday, with both Atlantic and Pacific hurricanes making landfall in the same day. This is the first time this has happened since records began in 1949. Felix slammed into Central America’s Miskito coastline on Tuesday, with Henriette striking the Baja peninsula just eight hours later.
Felix hit the remote north-eastern coast as a category 5 hurricane; the strongest on the scale, packing winds of 160mph (260kph). The hardest hit region was Puerto Cabezas where torrential rains destroyed almost half of the city’s houses, leaving a number of people dead. After making landfall, Felix quickly weakened into a tropical storm, but forecasters at the National Hurricane Center are still worried that up to 25 inches (640mm) of rain could drench Guatemala City over the coming days.
It has been a record breaking start to the 2007 hurricane season, with Felix coming just two weeks after Dean tore through southern Mexico. This marked the first time on record that two category 5 Atlantic hurricanes hit land in the same year.
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