PUNTA GORDA, Belize (AP) – Hurricane Nana struck westward off the coast of Honduras on Wednesday on a collision course with the Central American country of Belize, where thousands of people fed food, water and construction materials.
The long queues of supermarkets and hardware stores were almost empty, and Belizeans bought fabrics to close windows and doors before Nana’s planned arrival early Thursday as a hurricane.
The U. S. National Hurricane Center reported that Nana is located about 95 kilometers southeast of Belize city with sustained maximum winds of 120 km/h, making it a hurricane. The typhoon moves at 16 mph (26 km/h).
Belize has issued a warning at its expense. Heavy rains were expected in Belize, as well as in northern Honduras and throughout Guatemala when the typhoon hit the isthmus on Thursday.
Local leaders in the rural villages of the southern district of Toledo were waiting for a note from the National Emergency Management Organization to open the shelters.
As night approached, dark clouds hung on the horizon as concerned citizens awaited the arrival of the typhoon.