Dean spares Jamaica

Serious damage - but it could have been worse

Hurricane Dean wobbled south of Jamaica yesterday producing heavy rain, mudslides and 115mph winds. It could have been far worse. The Cat 4 storm is moving west of the Island nation this morning and is about 415 miles from the Belize coast. The next target will be that country and the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. The area will be hammered by the storm which we expect will be a Category 5 by then, producing 155mph winds and gusts to 185. The damage could be catastrophic in places. The area has just finished rebuilding from Wilma in 2005.

I apologize for the problems providing updates on this blog. My home computer is out and I am working on it. In the meantime the Hurricane City link on the left has all the latest information and links 0n the storm.

• The remains of Tropical Storm Erin meantime rung itself out over Oklahoma yesterday morning with 9 inches of rain in just a few hoursin and around King Fisher County. The result was severe flash flooding. At least 7 deaths were blamed on the storm. Numerous water rescues were carried out all day, reminiscent of Katrina in 2005. The storm is producing rain across Missouri, Kentucky and Illinois today.

Next update will be around 5pm today....