Toursists shelter as Dean downgraded to Category 2
Thousands of tourists were confined to their hotel rooms today, sheltering from high winds and driving rain as Hurricane Dean tore into Mexico.
But with the eye of the storm passing to the south of their Cancun resort hotels, the holidaymakers were spared the full force of the 165mph hurricane.
With thousands of tourists having already flown out from Cancun ahead of Dean’s arrival, more were still in the area as the hurricane hit the Mexican mainland at around 9am Irish time today.
Most holidaymakers had stayed in their hotels overnight but some had been moved to hurricane shelters by the time Dean came ashore about 40 miles from Chetumal on the Mexico-Belize border.
Dean lessened from a category five to a category two hurricane as its winds dropped as it headed across the Yucatan Peninsula.
Dean was expected to cross the peninsula, reaching the town of Campeche tonight and then head across the Gulf of Mexico to hit the mainland again between Veracruz and Tampico.
It will move into central Mexico and still be a major hurricane, with the possibility of the southern part of Texas feeling its force.
Despite the less-ferocious conditions, wind and rain lashed Cancun, with palm trees swaying against a backdrop of a huge, swelling sea.
