Hurricane Dean Makes Landfall in Mexico as a Category 5

This morning Hurricane Dean landed in the Yucatan Peninsula near Costa Maya, south of Cancun, with the strength of a Category 5, making it the first Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the Atlantic basin since Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

As the storm moved inland it was downgraded to a Category 3. Currently Dean is making its way toward the coastal city of Campeche, which is expected to be hit later this afternoon. Dean is expected to still be a hurricane when it reaches the Bay of Campeche.

According to the US National Hurricane Center the storm is expected to dump 5 to 10 inches of rain, and can potentially cause life-threatening flash floods and mud slides. There is no word yet on the extent of the damage caused in Mexico.

US National Hurricane Center