Dean getting stronger

Hurricane Dean is just shy of Category 5 status at this hour. The storm is located about 330 miles east of Belize City in the western Caribbean Sea heading slightly due north of west. The storm is expected to make landfall overnight tonight on the Yucatan south of Cozumel. The storm is then expected to cross the peninsula and emerge into the Gulf of Mexico before approaching Tampico on the Gulf Coast of Mexico Wednesday- possibly as a Category three hurricane. What all this means is that massive evacuations were expected along both coastlines as Dean approaches. Thousands of tourists were boarding planes away from the Yucatan yesterday and today.

It appears that the damage was extensive along the south coast of Jamaica but not as bad as feared. Ten deaths have been blamed on the storm so far. Residents in extreme south Texas near Brownsville were being asked to leave the low lying coastal areas prior to landfall in Mexico as a precaution.