Hurricane Dean about to score direct hit on Jamacia.
Jamaica opened shelters nationwide on Saturday and Cuba declared a ``state of alert'' as the Caribbean's warm waters fueled a strengthening Hurricane Dean, with forecasters predicting the storm could grow to a powerful Category 5. Labels: disasters, international news, weather
Now a Category 4 storm with sustained winds at 150 mph, Dean was expected to pass south of Hispaniola but dump as much as five inches of rain to the two countries on the island -- Haiti and the Dominican Republic -- which are both prone to devastating floods and mudslides.
As dark clouds rolled in from the south and a light rain began to fall, residents of the Dominican capital, Santo Domingo, calmly ran errands at stores with fully stocked shelves, despite government advisories about heavy rains and possible flooding.
``Nothing's going to happen here -- a lot of water of nothing else,'' said Pedro Alvajar, 61, as he sat in a doorway selling lottery tickets.
Dean killed three people and devastated banana and sugar crops a day earlier as it crossed small eastern Caribbean islands. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said its winds could surpass 155 mph as it approaches the Yucatan Peninsula and the Gulf of Mexico on Monday.
By Thursday, there is a chance Dean could threaten the U.S., though it is expected to lose some strength as it travels over the Yucatan.
NASA shortened the last spacewalk for astronauts aboard the shuttle Endeavour and scaled back the mission, to allow the spacecraft to return to Earth on Tuesday -- a day early -- if the storm appeared to threaten the Houston home of Mission Control.
In Jamaica, which expected to take a direct hit Sunday, tourists including Shante Morgan of Moor Park, Calif., began lining up outside the Montego Bay airport before dawn to book flights out ahead of the storm.
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