Hurricane Dean just keeps strengthening: since passing over Jamaica on Sunday evening, it is now considered "potentially catastrophic". Heading for Belize and the coast of Mexico, after sweeping successively across Martinique, Guadeloupe, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba, the hurricane is blowing at 240 km/h, according to the latest bulletin from the US National Hurricane Center. A hurricane moves into category 5, the maximum, from 249 km/h. In Mexico, residents and tourists are already being evacuated from Cancun.
Dean has already claimed five victims, including two in Martinique. In Jamaica the situation is serious: a state of emergency has been declared for one month to deal with the risk of looting, several cases of which have already been reported. Flooded villages, wrecked roads, power cut to 150,000 homes, trees and roofs torn off… Two years after Ivan, Jamaica is again paying a heavy price. So much so that the general elections scheduled for 27 August could be postponed.