Hurricane Dean update 2

Good news about Hurricane Dean... It appears that the hurricane caused no deaths in Mexico, and that the damage was far less catastrophic than had originally been predicted. Dean has since weakened to a Category 1 storm, as it continues across the Bay of Campeche toward the central coast of Mexico. Here in Guatemala City the weather has been exceptionally cool, breezy and gray... with very little rain. Let's hope that the worst has passed!

Hurricane Dean makes landfall, weakens

posted by: Jeffrey Wolf
reported by: Kyle Clark

Tulum, Mexico (AP) - Hurricane Dean crashed into the Caribbean coast of Mexico on Tuesday as a roaring Category 5 hurricane, the most intense Atlantic storm to make landfall in two decades.

It lashed ancient Mayan ruins and headed for the modern oil installations of the Yucatan Peninsula.

The eye of the storm made landfall near Majahual, a port popular with cruise liners and about 40 miles east-northeast of Chetumal and the Belize border, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

Dean's path was a stroke of luck for Mexico: It made landfall in a sparsely populated coastline that had already been evacuated, skirting most of the major tourist resorts. It weakened within hours to a Category 3 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph, and the hurricane center predicted more weakening as it crosses the Yucatan.

With the storm still screaming, there were no immediate reports of deaths, injuries or major damage, Quintana Roo Gov. Felix Gonzalez told Mexico's Televisa network, though officials had not been able to survey the area.

In Tulum, a beach town north of Dean's strike famed for its Mayan ruins, the storm bent palm trees and rattled tin roofing. Electricity was out, and residents huddled in their homes as the wind moaned through the darkened streets.

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Tags: Guatemala, Hurricane, Dean, news, update