(AP)
Updated: 2007-09-05 09:35

At 5 pm EDT, Felix's center was 110 miles west of Puerto Cabezas, moving westward at nearly 14 mph toward Honduras, the US Hurricane Center said.

In the Pacific, Henriette's top winds increased to 85 mph and it made landfall just after 2 pm on the southern tip of Baja, a resort area popular with Hollywood stars and sports fishermen.

Few tourists or residents had expected much trouble, but they awoke Tuesday to dangerous winds, closed airports and forecasts of a direct hit.

"I've been hearing it from the wife, coming to Cabo during the hurricane season," said Derek Dunlap, a 45-year-old engineer from San Francisco. "I was going to roll the dice, and well, here we go."

Fifteen-foot waves chewed away beaches, crashed against seawalls at beachfront hotels and bashed catamarans against their moorings.

At 5 pm EDT, Henriette's eye was 25 miles inland over the peninsula, on a path to drench Mexico's northern deserts and then drop an inch or two of rain on Arizona and New Mexico in the Southwest on Thursday night. The Mexican government declared a state of emergency in southern Baja California.

Felix was the 31st Category 5 hurricane seen in the Atlantic since record-keeping began in 1886 - and the eighth in the last five seasons. Some meteorologists say human-caused increases in sea surface temperatures are making storms stronger, while others say the numbers are up because new technology allows us to measure their intensity better.

In Guatemala, presidential elections were still scheduled for Sunday, but authorities prepared supplies and equipment for heavy rains and flooding from Felix. In Honduras, schools were closed and 11,000 soldiers went on alert as Tegucigalpa residents emptied supermarket shelves and waited in long lines for gas.

"I've been standing in lines for two days at different places to buy food and home supplies," said housewife Cristina Segura.

In the Nicaraguan mining town of Bonanza, 1,000 refugees crowded into 16 shelters. Mayor Maximo Sevilla said most roads were washed out or blocked by debris.

"We are cut off and being beaten by Hurricane Felix," Sevilla told The Associated Press by phone, pleading for help from emergency officials.

As soon as Felix moved inland, the Nicaraguan army sent in a planeload of soldiers, life jackets and building materials, joining 700 troops patrolling against looting and clearing debris.

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