Hurricane reaches monstrous category five as it barrels to Mexico
MIAMI (AFP) - Hurricane Dean was just short of reaching the topmost category five Monday as it barreled toward Mexico's Caribbean coast packing sustained winds of up to 249 kilometers (155 miles) per hour, forecasters said.
An increase of only 1.6 kilometers (one mile) per hour in wind speeds would turn the already deadly storm into a monstrous and rare category five hurricane.
Reports from a US Air Force aircraft that flew into the storm "indicate that maximum sustained winds have increased and are now near 155 mph," the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said.
At 0000 GMT Tuesday, the center of hurricane Dean was 335 kilometers (210 miles) east of Chetumal, Mexico and the outer bands of the storm already started hitting the Yucatan Peninsula, the NHC said.
At least nine people were killed earlier as the hurricane made its way across the Caribbean.
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