Q&A: Hurricane Dean
Updated on 20 August 2007
Where is Dean heading next? And how did the hurricane get that name?
Where has the hurricane been?
The hurricane passed over St Lucia and Martinique on Friday afternoon, then swept by the Dominican Republic and on to Jamaica.
What damage has it done?
Gale force winds and driving rain caused havoc in Jamaica, ripping up trees and damaging homes. Residents and holidaymakers are now waiting for the storm to pass.
The poor coastal communities of the Dominican Republic have been hit worst. Overall, though, it hasn't been as bad as expected.
This is because the hurricane did not pass inland, resting about 300km from the coast.
Where is it expected to hit next?
As the eye of the storm passes south of Jamaica, it's expected to intensify to a category five storm as it approaches the Cayman Islands and Mexico's Yucatan peninsula.
Mexican authorities have evacuated around 90,000 tourists from Cancun - a coastal resort destoryed by 2005's Hurricane Katrina - and other islands of the Mayan Riviera.
As a precaution, the US space shuttle Endeavour has undocked from the International Space Station for its return trip to Earth one day earlier than scheduled - to avoid any disruptions from Hurricane Dean.
How do we know where the hurricane is going?
We don't. There are many storms during hurricane season. Meteorologists can only predict what their path and magnitude will be. Sometimes storms are expected to be huge, but dissipate before they do any real damage.
Why Dean?
Hurricanes are the third most intense kind of tropical cyclone - and hurricane identifies the region in which they occur: the Atlantic.
In the Northwestern Pacific similar strength winds are called typhoons.
This is the fourth named storm of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season. For that it gets the name Dean - 'd' being the forth letter of the alphabet.
This is because tropical storms were originally given names to avoid confusion when issuing weather warnings.
Today the lists are decided upon by committees of the World Meteorological Organisation or by national weather offices which forecast storms.
Every year the names of the most destructive storms are "retired", and new names take their place. So, for example, there will never be another hurricane Katrina.
I'm worried about my relatives. Who can I contact?
The National Hurricane Center provides the latest advice and forecasts for Hurricane Dean.
The Federation of Tour Operators says it is closely monitoring the hurricane's progress.
And the British High Commission in Jamaica has set up a 24-hour phone line for UK nationals seeking advice: (00 1 876) 510 0700.
You can also contact the Foreign Office which is monitoring the situation and regularly updating travel advice.
