Hurricane Dean ploughed into the Caribbean coast of Mexico today as a roaring Category 5 hurricane, lashing ancient Mayan ruins and heading for modern oil installations.

Hurricane-force winds whipped the Caribbean coast of Mexico on today as a roaring Category 5 Hurricane Dean sped toward the ancient ruins and modern oil installations of the Yucatan Peninsula.

Hurricane Dean strengthened into a 160mph Category 5 storm capable of catastrophic damage today, as its first rain and winds began hitting the coasts of Mexico and Belize.

Travelers by the thousands flew out of the Mexican resort Cancun ahead of menacing Hurricane Dean today.

Cayman Islands imposed a curfew and evacuated tourists as the British territory today faced Hurricane Dean, a powerful storm leaving a trail of destruction across the Caribbean.

Alarmed tourists jammed Caribbean airports for flights out of Hurricane Dean’s path as the storm threatened to engulf Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

Hurricane Dean barrelled across the eastern Caribbean today and took aim at Hispaniola, Jamaica and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, with forecasters saying it could turn into a monster Category 5 storm within 72 hours.

HURRICANE Dean grew into a major storm with 200km/h winds yesterday after it smashed into the Caribbean islands, knocking out power and setting off landslides before heading toward the oil and gas rigs of the Gulf of Mexico.

Hurricane Dean is heading towards Caribbean islands today with 100mph winds.

A hurricane watch was issued for a portion of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean as Tropical Storm Dean slowly moved across the Atlantic Ocean, forecasters said.

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