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Dean strengthens as it whips across Caribbean;Winds rise to 150 mph-3 deaths so far

SANTO DOMINGO,Dominican Republic-Jamaica opened shelters nationwide on Saturday and Cuba declared a “state of alert” as the Caribbean’s warm waters fueled a strengthening Hurricane Dean, with forecasters predicting the storm could grow to a powerful Category 5.Now a Category 4 storm with sustained winds at 150 mph, Dean was expected to pass south of Hispaniola but dump as much as five inches of rain to the two countries on the island-Haiti and the Dominican Republic-which are both prone to devastating floods and mudslides.As dark clouds rolled in from the south and a light rain began to fall, residents of the Dominican capital, Santo Domingo, calmly ran errands at stores with fully stocked shelves, despite government advisories about heavy rains and possible flooding.“Nothing’s going to happen here-a lot of water of nothing else,”said Pedro Alvajar, 61, as he sat in a doorway selling lottery tickets.Dean killed three people and devastated banana and sugar crops a day earlier as it crossed small eastern Caribbean islands. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said its winds could surpass 155 mph as it approaches the Yucatan Peninsula and the Gulf of Mexico on Monday.By Thursday, there is a chance Dean could threaten the U.S., though it is expected to lose some strength as it travels over the Yucatan.In Jamaica, which expected to take a direct hit Sunday, tourists including Shante Morgan of Moor Park, Calif., began lining up outside the Montego Bay airport before dawn to book flights out ahead of the storm.“People are freaking out because they’re not getting answers at their hotel,”said Morgan, a 38-year-old freelance editor who got a Saturday flight after waiting several hours.“They’re really playing down the potential influence of the hurricane.”Haitian authorities issued an alert for coastal communities where thousands of people live in flimsy shacks. In 2004, Tropical Storm Jeanne brushed the impoverished and heavily deforested country, triggering massive floods that killed 1,900 people and left 900 others missing.All flights from the capital, Port-au-Prince, to southern Haiti were canceled Saturday and small boats were prohibited from leaving shore, the country’s disaster management agency said.Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller of Jamaica-where a direct hit is expected Sunday-ordered shelters opened across the island and called for a halt to campaigning for the Aug. 27 elections.The country issued a hurricane warning.“Let us band together and unite in the threat of this hurricane,”Simpson-Miller said.

As in the days of Noah...