Henriette's wrath was being felt after Hurricane Felix slammed ashore earlier Tuesday in Nicaragua at the topmost intensity on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

Heavy rains were expected to lash the coast dotted with resorts from Santa Rosalia to La Paz, the service said. More than 2,000 people had been evacuated ahead of the storm's arrival.

While still a tropical storm, Henriette left seven people dead over the weekend amid widespread mudslides along Mexico's southern and southeastern Pacific coast.

Felix roared into northeastern Nicaragua with maximum sustained winds of 260 kilometers (160 miles) per hour, and higher gusts, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center.

related report
Historic first as two topmost hurricanes land in same year
For the first time on record, two Atlantic hurricanes have made landfall at category five in the same year as Hurricane Felix slammed ashore Tuesday at the topmost intensity on the Saffir-Simpson scale, according to data from the US National Hurricane Center.

The powerful storm roared ashore in northeastern Nicaragua with maximum sustained winds of 260 kilometers (160 miles) per hour, and higher gusts, before weakening to a category three hurricane, said the Miami-based NHC.

Its landfall marked the first time two hurricanes hit land at the topmost category in the same year since a storm was first reliably recorded at that intensity in 1928.

Dean, this year's first hurricane, hit Mexico's Caribbean coast at category five on August 21. Its rampage through the Caribbean and Mexico left 30 people dead.

Hurricane Felix had reached category five on Sunday, when it strengthened from a category two in a record 15 hours, according to the NHC. It dropped to category four on Monday but regained strength just before landfall.

Only 30 previous Atlantic hurricanes are reliably known to have reached category five, starting with a 1928 storm nicknamed Okeechobee that left a trail of death and devastation in the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas and Florida.

Among the storms to reach category five was Hurricane Mitch, which in 1998 devastated the same area now battered by Felix.

While Mitch made landfall as a category one hurricane, its slow motion meant it dropped massive amounts of rain over Honduras and Nicaragua, causing catastrophic flooding and becoming one of the deadliest hurricanes in history, with more than 9,000 people dead and as many reported missing.

In 2005, a record four Atlantic hurricanes reached category five, including Hurricane Katrina that left 1,500 people dead in New Orleans and along the US Gulf coast. Katrina made landfall as a category three hurricane, with sustained winds of 205 kilometers (125 miles) per hour.

A category five hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale packs maximum sustained winds of over 249 kilometers (155 miles) per hour. The NHC calls such hurricanes "potentially catastrophic."