Hurricane Dean heads for Jamaica
Updated on 18 August 2007
British holidaymakers are being warned by the foreign office not to travel to Jamaica because of a hurricane sweeping through the Caribbean.
Hurricane Dean has been upgraded to a Category 4 storm and is expected to hit Jamaica tomorrow. It's on course to reach the Yucatan coast of Mexico by Monday - strengthening into a Category 5 storm - the most ferocious.
Sustained winds of 150 miles an hour have damaged property and boats, and have already killed three people as Hurricane Dean has hurtled through the eastern Caribbean. Floods, fallen trees and debris have been left in the hurricane's wake.
Dean is the first hurricane of the Atlantic hurricane season this year. Its ferocity is rare, but not unprecedented - in 2005, Wilma, Rita, Katrina and Emily were all Category 5 hurricanes, with winds over 155 miles an hour at some point. Before 2005, only 1960 and 1961 had seen more than one Category 5 hurricane in a single season season.
Dean was still classed as a Category 2 on the Saffir-Simpson scale when it hit Dominica, St Lucia and Martinique on Friday. Its impact will be hugely increased as it roars over to Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba, where residents are on storm alert, buying
emergency provisions, and praying.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world in Taiwan, Typhoon Sepat has brought winds of up to 100 miles an hour and torrential rains. Twelve people have been injured and 57,000 homes left without power. The typhoon has now passed over the Taiwanese mainland and is heading for China.
