KEY POINTS:
CHETUMAL, Mexico - Hurricane Dean punched its way across Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Tuesday, flooding streets, toppling trees and blowing roofs off houses before heading for oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.
There were no immediate reports of deaths in Mexico from the storm, a potentially disastrous Category 5 hurricane which lashed beach resorts on the "Mayan Riviera" where thousands of tourists had crammed into shelters.
Water surged down a main street at thigh level in Chetumal, a city of about 150,000 people near where Dean made landfall. Broken trees and street lights lay strewn around.
Dean killed 11 people elsewhere on its rampage through the Caribbean but lost power as it moved inland over Mexico and was downgraded to a Category 1 storm.
"No human losses have been reported until now," President Felipe Calderon said.
But forecasters warned that roaring winds and rains could pick up again as Dean crosses the Yucatan Peninsula and heads out into the southern Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday evening, threatening Mexico's oil installations in the area.
Mexico's state oil company has closed and evacuated 407 oil and gas wells, meaning lost production of 2.65 million barrels of crude per day.
Resorts like Playa del Carmen and Cancun, devastated by Hurricane Wilma in 2005, appeared to escape major damage this time. Tens of thousands of tourists fled over the weekend before Dean crashed into the area, famous for white beaches, crystal clear waters and Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza.
Litter and leaves were scattered on the streets in Playa del Carmen, where tired tourists emerged at first light after an uncomfortable night in a hotel converted to a shelter for 400 people.
"I didn't sleep, I had backache," said Italian tourist Massimiani Luca, 31. "There were nine of us in this room, eight in that room," he said.
Chetumal was left without power when the hurricane's sustained winds of 265 kph and gusts of up to 320 kph knocked over dozens of power poles and trees. The aluminium roofs of some houses were blown off.
Dean swiped Jamaica at the weekend with fierce winds and pelting rain, killing two people and taking the storm death toll to eleven. Haiti was worst hit with four people dead.
Dean is likely to cost insurers up to US$1.5 billion ($2.15 billion) with the majority of claims coming from damage caused in Jamaica, disaster-modelling firm Risk Management Solution said.
Heavy rain drenched Belize, a former British colony that is home to some 250,000 people and a famous barrier reef. Sugar canes fields were flattened in the north of the country.
In Belize City, Chyla Gill was evacuated with her family from her wooden house and sent to a concrete school shelter.
"We packed for a week because after the hurricane there is always flooding and we can't go back to our houses," she said. "We live near a swamp and the crocodiles come out."
Category 5 hurricanes are rare but there were four in 2005, including Katrina, which devastated New Orleans.
Hurricane Wilma two years ago washed away whole beaches in Mexico, killing seven people and causing $3.7 billion in damages.
Poor local residents with badly built homes are often the worst hit by hurricanes.
Calderon cut short a visit to Canada, where he met US President George W. Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, to oversee the emergency effort.
- REUTERS
