Hurricane Dean Heading Toward Mexico’s Riviera Maya*

Experts say Hurricane Dean, now a Category 4 storm, could grow even stronger as it barrels toward Mexico’s Riviera Maya (pictured), where it’s expected to make landfall early Tuesday morning. According to the AP, tens of thousands of tourists are rushing to leave: “Cancun seemed likely to be spared a direct hit, but visitors abandoned its swank hotels to swarm outbound flights. Officials evacuated more rustic lodgings farther south.” How powerful is the storm? Meteorologists say Dean could become even stronger than Hurricane Wilma, which pounded the region in 2005 and prompted a Web site covering its tourism recovery, After Wilma. One travel blogger wrote today on the Hurricane Cancun blog that Cancun was “very quiet with few tourists around”—the proverbial calm before the storm.

* Update: Hurricane Dean has made landfall on the Mexican Coast Near Majahual.

Photo by *Rachel*A* via Flickr, (Creative Commons).

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