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Tropical Storm Felix Forms in Caribbean
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[September 01, 2007]
ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) -- Tropical Storm Henriette dumped heavy rains in this Pacific resort city, flooding streets and prompting officials to close more than 1,000 schools, while Tropical Storm Felix formed Saturday in the Caribbean.
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 Henriette was expected to become a hurricane by early Sunday, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. It was not expected to make landfall.
The Mexican government issued a hurricane watch Friday from the coastal resort of Manzanillo, in the state of Colima north of Acapulco, to Cabo Corrientes. A tropical storm warning was in effect along Mexico's southern coast from Acapulco to Manzanillo.
At 5 a.m. EDT, the center of the storm was about 130 miles south-southeast of Manzanillo and about 220 miles west of Acapulco, with maximum sustained winds near 50 mph, with higher gusts. The storm was moving west-northwest at about 12 mph, the hurricane center said.
About 4 inches of rain fell in Acapulco, ports were closed to small boats. Waves up to 5 feet forced officials to shut down small fishing and ocean sports. The hurricane center said up to 8 inches of rain are expected, with possible isolated maximum amounts of 15 inches.
A small landslide came down on the highway between Acapulco and the resort city of Zihuatanejo to the north, Federal Preventive Police officer Carlos Ramirez Zavala said. No injuries were reported.
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 Officials also closed more than 1,000 schools, according to Arturo de la Rosa Camacho, director of civil protection in Acapulco.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Felix became the sixth named storm of the 2007 Atlantic season early Saturday, forming over the Windward Islands in the eastern Caribbean. The storm was expected to strengthen over the next 24 hours, forecasters said.
At 5 a.m. EDT, the storm was centered about 30 miles northwest of Grenada, according to the National Hurricane Center. It had top sustained winds of 40 mph, just above the threshold to be a named storm, and was moving westward at about 18 mph.
Felix was expected to move away from the southern Windward Islands later Saturday morning and pass near Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao by evening or early Sunday, forecasters said. Tropical storm warnings were issued for the islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.
[Associated Press;
By NATALIA PARRA]
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