Hurricane Dean poses major Caribbean storm threat

MIAMI-Hurricane Dean strengthened and threatened to become a dangerously powerful storm as it plowed toward the Caribbean and aimed for Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula or the Gulf of Mexico beyond, forecasters said on Thursday.
More immediately in the path of the 2007 Atlantic storm season's first hurricane were the Lesser Antilles, in particular the islands of Dominica and St. Lucia and the French territories of Martinique and Guadeloupe, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.The hurricane's top sustained winds had reached 100 miles per hour (160 km per hour) by 8 p.m. EDT, making it a Category 2 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity, the Miami-based hurricane center said.
Computer models showed the hurricane could become an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm as it passed south of Jamaica early next week.Category 3 to 5 hurricanes, such as Katrina, Rita and Wilma in the devastating 2005 Atlantic storm season, are potentially the most destructive storms but a Category 2 hurricane can still damage buildings and create a 6- to 8-foot (1.8 meter to 2.4 meter) storm surge."Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion, the hurricane center said in an echo of warnings that rang out repeatedly in 2004 and 2005, when a series of hurricanes struck the US,the Caribbean and Central America.Energy markets in particular have been on edge since 2004 and 2005, when hurricanes Ivan, Katrina and Rita toppled oil rigs and flooded refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast. The Gulf of Mexico accounts for roughly a third of domestic U.S. oil production and more than 15% of its natural gas.In addition, almost half of U.S. refining capacity is located in Gulf Coast states and can be vulnerable to flooding or wind damage from storms.If Dean crosses the Yucatan and enters the southern Gulf of Mexico, it could disrupt operations in the Cantarell Complex of Mexican oil fields,which is one of the world's most productive and supplies two-thirds of Mexico's crude oil output.
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As in the days of Noah...