Dean batters south Jamaica

Trees have been uprooted and roofs ripped off houses in southern Jamaica, as Hurricane Dean devastated through the Caribbean.

The storm, with winds of up to 230km/h, careered along the country's south coast, its eye passing some miles away out to sea. Dean has already claimed at least six lives in the eastern Caribbean. Haiti and the Dominican Republic were spared the worst as Dean passed to the south overnight - damage was limited to flooding in coastal areas. Airports have been closed, a 48-hour curfew is in place and the island's power company switched off electricity. The US has said it is prepared to fly in aid if necessary.

About 1,000 emergency shelters have been opened, but just 47 were occupied. As heavy rain began to fall, there were reports of mudslides north of Kingston and the St Mary area on the island's north-east coast. Areas of the Cayman Islands and Mexican coast were also evacuated, amid meteorological reports the storm could intensify into a Category Five hurricane after it leaves Jamaica.

Sunday night's projections showed little chance that Dean would hit the United States. But federal officials and their state counterparts in Texas were preparing for any unexpected turn northward, and oil workers off the Texas coast were heading for shore. The space shuttle Endeavour undocked from the ISS on Sunday, a day earlier, in a bid to beat the hurricane should it eventually reach Texas, where NASA's mission control is based.

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