Beta Becomes Category 3 Storm

Beta strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane as it neared Central America's Caribbean coast early Sunday, its outer bands pounding the mainland with heavy rains and high winds. Thousands of residents awaited the storm in boarded-up homes or in government shelters.

The hurricane's winds had increased to 115 mph as Beta edged slowly closer toward the Nicaragua-Honduras border.

Hondurans nervously watched the progress of Beta as President Ricardo Maduro warned of the importance of being prepared to avoid another Hurricane Mitch, which in 1998 stalled over Honduras with 120 mph winds, sweeping away bridges, flooding neighborhoods and killing thousands of people.

Before edging westward toward Central America, a slow-moving Beta, the record 13th hurricane of this year's Atlantic storm season, lashed the Colombian island of Providencia with heavy winds, torrential rains and high surf.

Several people were injured during the hurricane, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said Saturday, though he did not provide an exact figure or give the extent of the injuries. No deaths were reported.

Roofs were ripped off of dozens of wooden homes, the island's main communications tower was knocked over and a tourist foot bridge was torn apart. But most of the 5,000 islanders stayed safe by climbing Providencia's many hills to hunker down in brick shelters.

In Nicaragua, President Enrique Bolanos declared a maximum "red alert" late Saturday, ordering everyone to stay inside, and said that some 45,000 people from the port regions were either secured in their homes or holed up in 15 shelters provided by the government.

Earlier in the day, army troops evacuated 10,000 people from the far eastern coastal port of Cabo de Gracias a Dios, and from along the River Coco, both on the Honduras border, said Nicaragua's national civil defense director, Lt. Col. Mario Perez Cassar.

The Civil Defense Department sent 100 army rescue specialists along with various land and water vehicles. A tent hospital also was set up, while universities and public schools were closed and converted into shelters. Flights to the Nicaraguan islands Islas del Maiz were canceled.

Residents of low-lying neighborhoods in Puerto Cabeza also were taken to provisional shelters on higher ground as heavy rains and wind began to batter the coast, flooding some low-lying neighborhoods. Businesses raised food prices in response to the heavy demand, while bottled water supplies ran out. Authorities threatened to sanction the price gougers.

Mayor Gustavo Ramos said 10 people were reported missing after their boat disappeared in the storm, trying to escape the storm.

In Honduras on Saturday, President Ricardo Maduro declared a maximum state of alert as strong winds and intense rains from Beta began to batter the Atlantic coast. Authorities evacuated more than 50 people due to flooding in a coastal city also known as Gracias a Dios, on the border with Nicaragua.

Schools were closed in La Ceiba, 215 miles north of the capital, Tegucigalpa, and officials also shut down the international airport there.

El Salvador went on preventative alert, although the storm is not projected at this point to reach the country.

At 4 a.m. EST Sunday, Beta was centered about 140 miles south of Cabo Gracias a Dios and about 70 miles south of Puerto Cabezas, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Beta was moving toward the southwest at about 8 mph, with the core expected to make landfall later Sunday morning. While powerful, Beta was a small hurricane, with hurricane force winds extending outward up to 15 miles, the center said.

The storm was expected to dump 10 to 15 inches of rain across eastern Honduras and Nicaragua.

Beta was the 13th hurricane this year, more than any Atlantic season on record. This season has seen 23 named storms, more than at any point since record-keeping began in 1851.

Early this month, Hurricane Stan hit southern Mexico at Category 1 strength on Oct. 4, caused flooding and mudslides that killed 71 people in the southern state of Chiapas, and left 654 dead and 828 missing in neighboring Guatemala. Another 71 died in El Salvador.

Late last week, Wilma battered Mexico's famous tourist-oriented Caribbean coastline, including the resort city of Cancun, and its offshore islands. It was estimated by Mexican insurance companies to be the country's most costly disaster ever, with payments topping the US$1.2 billion the industry paid out after Hurricane Gilbert in 1988.