KINGSTON, Jamaica - The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, Dean, a category 4, was projected to reach the most dangerous classification, a Category 5 storm.
At 11 p.m., the center of Hurricane Dean was located near latitude 17.6 north, longitude 78.8 west, or about 135 miles west-southwest of Kingston, Jamaica.
Hurricane Dean is extremely dangerous. Dean is moving south of the Cayman Islands. It’s headed for the Yucatan Peninsula.
A hurricane warning is in effect for the coast of Belize and the East Coast of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. A hurricane warning remains in effect for Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.
The latest death toll from the season’s first hurricane, one of the most intense of recent years: a total of eight people in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, St. Lucia and Dominica.
Dozens of others were injured in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and many hundreds were left either permanently or temporarily homeless.
“The damage was minimal considering the intensity of the storm,” said Gen. Luis Antonio Luna Paulino, head of the Dominican Republic’s Civil Defense department.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the first hurricane of the Atlantic season was projected to reach the most dangerous classification, a Category 5 storm, with sustained winds of 160 mph before plowing into Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula on Tuesday. The Mexican mainland or Texas could be hit later.
Thousands of Jamaicans ignored pleas to leave their homes and find refuge in sturdy buildings, a decision they might have regretted Sunday night and early today.
As of 2 a.m. today, Dean was about 150 miles southeast of Grand Cayman and was traveling west at 20 mph, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Forecasters had predicted that Dean would hit the Cayman Islands head-on, but Sunday night revised that and said it would likely pass to the south. Still, the islands could get up to 12 inches of rain and tropical-storm-strength winds today, said meteorologist Rebecca Waddington of the hurricane center.
About 20,000 tourists fled the island ahead of Dean, but 14,000 visitors remained, according David Shields, deputy director of the Jamaica Tourist Board.
They could be stranded for some time: Both Jamaican airports were expected to remain closed today.
Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller said the United States, Brazil and Venezuela have pledged to help with cleanup efforts.
Latest projections suggested that Dean’s core might pass south of the Caymans, but there was no guarantee of that.
“It wouldn’t take much of a wobble to the right to bring hurricane-force winds to Grand Cayman,” said hurricane specialist Rick Knabb of the National Hurricane Center.
In both the Caymans and the Yucatan, tourists competed for outbound airline seats.
In Mexico, tourists packed Cancún’s airport and officials began evacuating residents. Hurricane and tropical-storm watches were posted along the Yucatán and in parts of Belize.