Hurricane Dean hits Jamaica
Updated on 19 August 2007
But the eye of the storm is passing to the south of the island, out at sea, to the relief of locals.
Shelters are on standby to take people in, while roads are deserted as people batten down their homes.
The worst may be yet to come, though, with the hurricane expected to intensify to a category five storm as it approaches Mexico's Yucatan peninsula.
The hurricane passed over St Lucia and Martinique on Friday afternoon, then swept by the Dominican Republic last night.
It hit Jamaica at around 3pm today and is now heading for the Cayman Islands and Mexico's Yucatan coast.
Hurricane Dean is more than 200km wide. In around four hours' time it will hit Jamaica.
It has already pushed its way past the Dominican Republic, where the poor coastal communities suffered the worst.
Jamaica is predicted to fare much worse than the Dominican Republic
But the damage was not as bad as had been feared because the hurricane stayed around 300 kilometres from the coast.
Jamaica is predicted to fare much worse.
The last time a hurricane hit Jamica this hard was in 1988, when 40 people died. Emergency planners here have set up shelters, but some people have chosen to stay in their own homes.
Nasa has called back international space station astronauts in case mission control is evacuated.
Hurricane Dean is not expected to wear itself out in Jamaica. It could elevate itself to category five by the time it reaches the Yucatan peninsula.
At its next port of call, Mexico, the airport has been overwhelmed by tousists trying to get out. It is unclear what effect Dean will have further north, on the state of Texas.
But Nasa, based at Houston, is not taking any chances. It has called back astronauts early from the international space station in case mission control has to be evacuated.
The accompanying report is by Zoe Conway
