Hurricane Dean to strengthen to force-3 strength

MIAMI (AFP) - Hurricane Dean was forecast yesterday to become a category three "major hurricane" with winds surpassing 177 kilometers (110 miles) per hour within the next 24 hours as it blasted into the Caribbean, the US National Hurricane Center said

"Some strengthening is forecast during the next 24 hours and Dean is forecast to become a major hurricane," the Miami-based center said in its 1500 GMT advisory.

Currently a category two storm, Dean, the first hurricane of the nearly three-month old Atlantic hurricane season, was located at 1500 GMT 170 kilometers (105 miles) west of Martinique and 565 kilometers (350 miles) southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

It was blowing sustained winds of 165 kilometers (105 miles) per hour and moving westward at 33 kilometers (21 miles) per hour on a track that will keep it over the eastern Caribbean yesterday, the center said.

Before daylight yesterday morning Dean crashed through the Lesser Antilles on the eastern edge of the Caribbean with winds gusting over 170 kilometers per hours, Meteo France reported from Martinique.

The violent winds blew off roofs, smashed windows and tore billboards from their posts in numerous parts of Martinique, local witnesses said.

The storm was heading on a direct path toward the southern coast of Jamaica, where it is expected to arrive mid-Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The prime minister of Jamaica called an emergency meeting of the disaster preparedness committee to prepare for the hurricane, which could disrupt general elections scheduled for August 27.

The path will take it south of Puerto Rico and Dominica, where tropical storm and hurricane warnings are in effect.

Rains reaching 13 centimeters (five inches) were predicted for Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic and the center warned they could cause dangerous flash floods and mudslides.