Hurricane Dean Heads for Dominican Republic, Jamaica

(Bloomberg) — Hurricane Dean, expected to increase in intensity, roared past Puerto Rico, plowing its way west through the Caribbean Sea toward the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica.

The storm is expected to reach Category 5, the highest level for tropical weather systems, and enter the Gulf of Mexico by Aug. 21, said U.S. National Hurricane Center meteorologists. Hurricane Katrina was a Category 3 storm when it hit New Orleans, costing insurers $57.9 billion in gulf coast damages.


…Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s biggest oil company, shut two oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico and evacuated personnel from platforms, which may be in the track of Hurricane Dean, the company said in a statement. The 188 people it evacuated from a natural gas field 75 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, because of Tropical Storm Erin will remain onshore until Dean’s path is determined, the company said.

Bloomberg