MEXICO:Mexico's Yucatan peninsula braced itself for Hurricane Dean's arrival last night as the storm barrelled through the Caribbean gathering strength and leaving a trail of destruction.
The eye of the hurricane was expected to hit Mexico's eastern coastline with 240km/h (150mph) winds early today, prompting an exodus of tens of thousands of tourists who swamped airports to catch the last flights out before aircraft were grounded.
The national oil company ordered the partial evacuation of some 13,000 workers from rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, sending jitters through the markets. However, oil prices dropped in the expectation that major installations would escape relatively unscathed.
The category four hurricane battered Jamaica on Sunday and early yesterday, ripping off rooftops and triggering floods, before brushing the Cayman islands with wind and rain and heading west towards the mainland. There were fears it would swell into a category five, the most powerful, and visit fresh devastation on a part of Mexico still recovering from Hurricane Wilma two years ago.
Cancun, on the peninsula's northeastern tip, was eerily quiet yesterday as workers boarded up windows. Locals did the same to their less solid houses in poorer residential districts. The first strong gusts were expected shortly after nightfall.
Authorities said most of the estimated 100,000 tourists in the area had been evacuated by yesterday. Quintana Roo state governor Felix Gonzalez said there would be enough room in shelters for all the tourists left behind as well as residents. Some tourists slept in the airport over the weekend to try to catch a flight before runways were closed.
Low-lying islands off the coast such as Isla Mujeres were evacuated over the weekend.
Dean has changed course several times in the past few days but by yesterday experts predicted it would avoid Cancun and hit land further south below the city of Tulum. This part of the coast is less built up but includes an important nature reserve. There are also some newer resorts such as Majahual which have grown in popularity since Wilma damaged Cancun's hotels and stripped away much of its famous white beaches. Estimated damage reached $3 billion (€2.23 billion).
There was some hope to be had from the speed at which Dean was approaching. This should mean the storm spends less time over land - unlike Wilma, which almost parked over Cancun. Emily, an equally strong storm in the same year, did little damage because it moved fast.
Jamaica escaped the direct hit which had been feared but the storm still caused widespread destruction while passing about 64km (40 miles) south of the island on Sunday night. Wind and rain blew off rooftops, uprooted trees, toppled power lines and unleashed mudslides and floods in several towns and cities, including the capital, Kingston.
Some 1,000 shelters were set up but initially only a few dozen were occupied because people preferred to guard their property from looters. As the hurricane swelled in intensity, thousands heeded the government's call and made their way to the shelters.
Rivers burst their banks and flooded roads and railway lines. Several areas reported a collapse in mobile phone networks, damage to water supplies and crumbled roads. A prison block roof was blown off but no inmates escaped.
At least one man was missing after trees toppled on to his house but no deaths were immediately confirmed in Jamaica. Other parts of the Caribbean hit over the weekend reported nine deaths. -