San Pedro is resting easier this morning as Hurricane Dean has passed over. Winds were very strong, the water came up quite a bit on the lagoon side, flooding some streets, but damage is limited to docks and debris, there are no major personal injuries.
Over 10,000 people were evacuated from Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker prior to the storm, and about 2,000 remained in shelter for the duration of the hurricane. Intense wave, wind, and rain began late last night and continued til early this morning.
The eye of the storm made landfall near Majahual, a popular port with cruise liners, located about 56 kilometres northeast of Chetumal and the Belize border, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
Dean packed winds near 270 km/h and was moving west-northwest near 32 km/h across the Yucatan peninsula, on course to reach by Tuesday evening the southern Bay of Campeche, where state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos decided Monday to shut down production on the offshore rigs that extract most of the nation’s oil.
The hurricane has killed at least 12 people across the Caribbean, picked up strength after brushing Jamaica and the Cayman Islands and became a monstrous Category 5 hurricane Monday.
Category 5 storms — capable of catastrophic damage — are extremely rare. Only three have hit the U.S. since 1935.
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