Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Hurricane Felix strengthened to a Category 5 storm with winds of about 165 miles per hour as it threatened to bring tropical-storm level winds to Jamaica and Grand Cayman in the Caribbean Sea, U.S. meteorologists said.

Felix, the second hurricane of the Atlantic season, was about 390 miles (625 kilometers) southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, moving west-northwest at 18 miles per hour, the National Hurricane Center said.

``Felix continues to rapidly strengthen,'' the National Hurricane Center in Miami said in its 8 p.m. statement. On the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, a Category 5 storm has winds greater than 155 mph (249 kilometers per hour) and a storm surge more than 18 feet (5.5 meters) above normal.

Felix may brush past Honduras Sept. 4 before making landfall in Belize the next day, according to the center's five-day forecast. If Felix remains south of the path of Dean, the first Atlantic hurricane of the season, oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico probably won't be affected.

In the Caribbean, storm warnings and a hurricane watch were canceled for the Dutch ``ABC islands'' of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, the hurricane center said. A tropical storm watch remained in effect for Grand Cayman and Jamaica.

Separately, Tropical Storm Henriette approached hurricane strength as it moved parallel to Mexico's Pacific coast, the hurricane center said.

Henriette, which began Aug. 30 south of Acapulco, had winds near 70 miles per hour, and was about 395 miles southeast of the tip of Baja California at 8 p.m. Miami time, according to the latest advisory from the hurricane center. The storm was moving west-northwest at 10 mph, taking it away from the mainland of Mexico, which canceled all warnings.

Henriette killed six people in Acapulco yesterday, causing torrential downpours and mudslides, according to Reuters. Parts of the Mexican coast from Punta San Telmo to Cabo Corrientes were under a tropical storm warning.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kelly Riddell in Washington at Kriddell1@bloomberg.net; Nancy Kercheval in Washington at nkercheval@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 2, 2007 20:39 EDT