Hurricane Dean roars over Jamaica

Hurricane Dean pounded Jamaica, ripping offrooftops and making roads impassable on Sunday evening, the U.S. National Hurricane Center reported.

In addition to devastating winds thatcould reach230 km/h, Dean is expected to dump about500 millimetres of rain —enough to cause severe flooding.

The eye of Hurricane Dean passed by Kingston late Sunday, coming within 80 kilometres of the Jamaican capital, the CBC's Tom Murphy reported.

"Even though the backside of the hurricane has passed us, the storm is still packing a major wallop," he said.

There was an unconfirmed report that a car on its way to thecity's airport was washed off the road, killing one person, Murphy reported.

Jamaican troops were on the streets to help those in need and to prevent looting, he said.

As the island braced itself earlier Sunday for the Category 4 hurricane, peoplewere evacuating homes and heading for higher ground, said Ronald Jackson, head of Jamaica's Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management.

"We have pre-positioned supplies, personnel in a number of communities, certainly those on the eastern end of the island and some on the southern and western sections," he said.

The Jamaicangovernment has opened more than 1,000 temporary shelters in schools, churches and the indoor national sports arena. But only 47 were occupied as the storm began pounding the island, according to a spokesman with the Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management office.

In Canada, friends and family members were planning relief efforts.

Paul Barnett,past president of the Alliance of Jamaican Alumni Association in Toronto, said his group hoped for the best.

"You sort of wonder how big and how strong it's going to be. We've lived through many of them, and we're hoping this one won't be too, too bad," he said.

"The thing is, if it's going to hit the island right on, it will be disastrous. If
it's just going to take a part of the island, it won't be bad."

Thestorm, already blamed for six deathson the islands of St. Lucia, Martinique and Dominica,has been gaining strength as it moves across the Caribbean toward Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

On Saturday,Deanbegan sweeping past the Dominican Republic and Haiti, which share the island of Hispaniola. InSanto Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic,an 11-year-old boy was killed by flying debris on an oceanfront road,emergency officialsreported.

Some tourists stranded

Tourists were jammed intoCaribbean airports on Saturday for flights to take them out of the hurricane's path, but some haven't beenable to leave.

A Halifax manlearnedSunday morning his flight home had been cancelledbecause of the hurricane and is nowaccusing Air Canada of abandoning him and other Canadians in the Cayman Islands.

Ron Hunt, who is originally from Labrador, had a flight booked for Halifax that was scheduled to leave on Monday.

He said had the airline cancelled earlier in the week, he would have had time to book with another airline to make sure he and his family could get out safely.

Extra flights added

Air Canada said they added extra flights this weekend to some places in the Caribbean to getCanadian passengershome, but flights to the Cayman Islands operate only on Sundays.

Jamaican officials closed the airports late Saturday, and at 6 p.m. ordered all businesses shuttered until Tuesday to prevent the looting that occurred during Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

Forecasters are warningDeancould turn into a potentially catastrophic Category 5 hurricane as it heads toward the Cayman Islands on Monday, with winds possibly reaching260 km/h as it approaches Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

The Mexican mainland or Texas could be hit later too,weather forecasters said.