FELIX AND HENRIETTE TAKE AIM AT MEXICO ALONG TWO COASTS

Mexico is bracing for a double pounding as hurricane Felix and tropical storm Henriette continue to strengthen in the Caribbean and the Pacific. Hurricane Felix developed in the southern Caribbean over the weekend, strafing the Netherlands Antilles and Grenada, and is tracking along a similar west/northwest track as hurricane Dean two weeks ago, but slightly to the south. Moving at around 21mph, Felix quickly strengthened into a category 5 storm on Sunday with sustained winds of 165 mph, the US National Hurricane Center said. Forecasters said that Felix would likely pass just off Honduras on Tuesday and head for Belize and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday. Meanwhile, off Mexico’s Pacific coast, tropical storm Henriette was expected to reach hurricane strength by early Monday, US forecasters said. Late Sunday, Henriette was moving west/northwest at 5 mph with sustained winds of 70 mph. The storm is expected to track due north, make landfall on Tuesday on the Baja Peninsula just north of Cabo San Lucas and to continue north toward the Arizona border, where it could cross into the US as a tropical storm on Thursday.