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Hurricane slams into Mexico again Hurricane slams into Mexico again
(about 1 hour later)
Hurricane Dean has reached Mexico for the second time this week, bringing winds of up to 100mph (160km/h) to the eastern state of Veracruz. Hurricane Dean has hit Mexico for the second time this week, slamming into the eastern state of Veracruz from the Gulf of Mexico but quickly weakening.
Dean struck near the town of Tecolutla, after strengthening to a Category Two storm over the Gulf of Mexico where it hit oil and gas platforms. The hurricane reached land as a Category Two storm, packing gusts of up to 100mph (160km/h).
On Tuesday Dean battered Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula as a maximum Category Five storm, toppling trees and houses. But it was downgraded to a Category One hurricane after its winds fell to 85mph (140 km/h) as it hit Tecolutla town.
On Tuesday, Dean battered Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, toppling trees and houses and causing flooding.
It also damaged houses and flooded streets in neighbouring Belize.It also damaged houses and flooded streets in neighbouring Belize.
Major Mexican tourist resorts were not directly hit, but indigenous Mayan villages were exposed to the hurricane's full force. href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/americas_enl_1187798798/html/1.stm" onClick="window.open('http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/americas_enl_1187798798/html/1.stm', '1187798849', 'toolbar=0,scrollbars=0,location=0,statusbar=0,menubar=0,resizable=1,width=500,height=368,left=312,top=100'); return false;">View path of Hurricane Dean in more detail href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/americas_enl_1187798798/html/1.stm" onClick="window.open('http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/americas_enl_1187798798/html/1.stm', '1187798849', 'toolbar=0,scrollbars=0,location=0,statusbar=0,menubar=0,resizable=1,width=500,height=368,left=312,top=100'); return false;" >Enlarge Map The hurricane initially hit Yucatan as a maximum Category Five storm but quickly weakened, before regaining strength over the Gulf of Mexico, where it slammed into oil and gas platforms.
There have been no reports of deaths in Mexico so far.
'On guard'
Dean hit Veracruz shortly before 1700 GMT, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.Dean hit Veracruz shortly before 1700 GMT, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
class="" href="/1/hi/in_pictures/6957178.stm">In pictures: Mexico deluged class="" href="/1/hi/world/americas/6956903.stm">Relief in Cancun More than 10,000 people were evacuated from low-lying coastal areas as the storm approached.
The Mexican authorities earlier evacuated more than 10,000 people from low-lying coastal areas.
NHC spokesman Jamie Rhome had warned residents not to let their guard down before Dean's return.NHC spokesman Jamie Rhome had warned residents not to let their guard down before Dean's return.
"We often see that when a storm weakens, people let down their guard completely. You shouldn't do that," he told Associated Press news agency. "We often see that when a storm weakens, people let down their guard completely. You shouldn't do that," he told the Associated Press news agency.
Earlier on Wednesday, the offshore oil and gas facilities in the Bay of Campeche were shut and workers evacuated before the storm arrived there. Homes destroyed
The eye of the storm came ashore over the Yucatan Peninsula, about 170 miles (270km) south of Cancun, early on Tuesday in a sparsely populated area near the town of Majahual, where hundreds of homes were destroyed. There have been no reports of deaths in Mexico, but the hurricane claimed at least 13 lives in the eastern Caribbean. At least three of those deaths were in Jamaica, which has had to delay a general election that had been due next week.
href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/americas_enl_1187798798/html/1.stm" onClick="window.open('http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/americas_enl_1187798798/html/1.stm', '1187798849', 'toolbar=0,scrollbars=0,location=0,statusbar=0,menubar=0,resizable=1,width=500,height=368,left=312,top=100'); return false;">View path of Hurricane Dean in more detail href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/americas_enl_1187798798/html/1.stm" onClick="window.open('http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/americas_enl_1187798798/html/1.stm', '1187798849', 'toolbar=0,scrollbars=0,location=0,statusbar=0,menubar=0,resizable=1,width=500,height=368,left=312,top=100'); return false;" >Enlarge Map Major Mexican tourist resorts were not directly hit, but indigenous Mayan villages were exposed to the hurricane's full force when it struck the Yucatan Peninsula on Tuesday, about 170 miles (270km) south of Cancun.
It lashed low-lying Mayan communities, and rain, poor communications and impassable roads made it hard to establish how they had fared in the storm. Hundreds of homes were destroyed in and around the town of Majahual.
The hurricane lashed low-lying Mayan communities, and rain, poor communications and impassable roads made it hard to establish how they had fared in the storm.
President Felipe Calderon has said relief efforts would focus on these communities.President Felipe Calderon has said relief efforts would focus on these communities.
Officials in the city of Chetumal said there were power cuts as the wind knocked over trees and sent debris flying through the air.
Further south, most of Belize was without power. Officials in Belize City closed hospitals and urged people to head inland, saying the town's shelters were not strong enough.
US President George W Bush offered aid to help hurricane victims, saying: "We stand ready to help".
How hurricanes are tracked Dean's path of destruction Send us your comments
The hurricane has already claimed at least 13 lives in the eastern Caribbean.
Jamaica postponed its general election, due to be held on 27 August, until 3 September, after the storm passed just to the south of the island leaving at least three people dead.
Dean is thought to have been less damaging than the Category Five Hurricane Wilma in 2005, which lingered over the Yucatan for a day, killing 10 people and wrecking large areas of Cancun.
It is the third strongest Atlantic hurricane to make landfall since records began in the 1850s.