Hurricane Dean slams into Mexican coast

Poza Rica (Mexico), Aug 23: Hurricane Dean crashed into Mexico's Gulf coast with high winds and torrential rain that knocked down trees and flooded roads in an oil town. A large tree lay felled by wind on a main road in Poza Rica as Dean, packing winds of up to 100 mph (160 kph), made landfall and headed inland. Poza Rica, in the eastern state of Veracruz, is home to oil storage facilities and a pipeline.

The storm, which roughed up Mayan villages and tourist sites on a run across the Yucatan Peninsula, passed earlier today through the Campeche Sound where the vast majority of Mexico's crude is produced.

Mexico is one of the top three suppliers of US crude imports and state oil company Pemex evacuated more than 18,000 oil workers, shut down 2.65 million barrels per day of production -- slightly more than Venezuela's total output -- and closed ports as the storm approached.

Pemex said it would send teams out to sea to check on possible damage to evacuated platforms when Dean had moved inland.

''They'll be able to go once the rains pass when it'll be possible to navigate and fly,'' spokeswoman Martha Avelar said.

Pemex also shut down wells in the Poza Rica area, although they only produce small amounts of crude.

In the old port city of Veracruz, most stores and restaurants on the shore were shut. Hotel workers taped up windows against the screaming winds from Dean, which had been a huge Category 5 storm when it pounded the Yucatan yesterday.

It was a Category 2 hurricane today afternoon when it battered the Veracruz coast, where over 15,000 people were evacuated to shelters.

''There has been panic buying of food in supermarkets,'' said Gabriela Navarrete, 35, who runs a bar in the city, near where Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes landed in Mexico in 1519 on his way to conquer the Aztec empire.

Dean hammered Mexico's Caribbean resort of Tulum and swallowed sand from the famous beach at Cancun after killing 12 people in Haiti, Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean.

Reuters>