Hurricane Dean slams into Mexico, barrels across Yucatan Peninsula

CAMPECHE, Mexico (AFP) - Hurricane Dean yesterday pounded the Yucatan Peninsula on its way to the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico after slamming onto Mexico's Caribbean coast as a monstrous category five storm.

The ferocious hurricane uprooted trees and downed power lines, but there were no immediate reports of casualties in Mexico after Dean barreled ashore following a rampage across the Caribbean that left nine people dead.

Dean lost much of its punch as it swirled over land but could regain strength when it hits the warm Gulf of Mexico waters, probably late yesterday.

The killer hurricane hit land in a sparsely populated area near Puerto Bravo, about 280 kilometers (175 miles) south of Cancun, packing sustained winds of 270 kilometers (165 miles) per hour, with higher gusts.

That made it the first Atlantic hurricane to make landfall at the topmost category five on the Saffir-Simpson scale since Andrew rampaged in south Florida in 1992.

While Cancun and other popular resorts were spared a direct hit, tens of thousands of tourists had fled ahead of the storm, and residents in low-lying areas headed to safer ground.

State-run Petroleos de Mexico (PEMEX) earlier evacuated all 18,000 personnel from its offshore oil installations in the Gulf of Mexico.

A curfew was declared in the Quintana Roo state capital Chetumal, located just south of Puerto Bravo.

The local airport was closed, and electricity was shut down in the city, which has a population of 450,000, in addition to about 20,000 people who sought refuge thee ahead of the storm.

But Chetumal feared comparatively well, and the worst damages reported were smashed windows, uprooted trees, downed power lines and some flooding.

Authorities had deployed 2,000 army personnel and 600 police ahead of the storm to help with rescue efforts and to prevent the type of looting that followed the devastation wrought by Wilma that killed 10 people and caused millions of dollars in damage in Cancun two years ago.

Meanwhile world oil prices continued to drop yesterday as the storm remained on course to spare key energy facilities in the United States, the world's biggest consumer of crude.

A few offshore rigs and platforms on the US side of the Gulf were nevertheless evacuated.

At 10:00 am (1500 GMT) Dean's center was located over the Yucatan Peninsula 140 kilometers (90 miles) southeast of the city of Campeche on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, according to the US National Hurricane Center.

It packed sustained winds of 165 kilometers (105 miles) per hour, with higher gusts. While it continued weakening over land, it was expected to remain at hurricane strength when it reaches water again, the Miami-based NHC said.

Forecasters expect Dean to make landfall again on Wednesday, in the Mexican state of Veracruz.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon announced he would cut short a trip to Canada where he held talks with US President George W. Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in order to return to Mexico "as soon as possible." He was expected to tour affected areas.