Effects of Hurricane Dean in Mexico
| Category 5 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS) | |
Hurricane Dean approaching the Yucatán Peninsula
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| Winds |
1-minute sustained: 175 mph (280 km/h) |
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| Pressure | 905 mbar (hPa); 26.72 inHg |
| Fatalities | 12 direct, 1 indirect |
| Damage | $184 million (2007 USD) |
| Areas affected | Mexico |
| Part of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season | |
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The effects of Hurricane Dean in Mexico were more severe than anywhere else in the storm's path. Hurricane Dean, the most intense storm of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season, formed in the Atlantic Ocean west of Cape Verde on August 14, 2007. The Cape Verde-type hurricane sped through the Caribbean Sea, rapidly intensifying before making landfall on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. Accurate forecasts of the storm's location and intensity enabled thorough preparations; nevertheless when the massive storm made landfall on the Yucatán Peninsula as a catastrophic Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale it damaged thousands of homes.
Weakening as it crossed the peninsula, Dean emerged into the Bay of Campeche and re-strengthened before making a second landfall in Veracruz. Although the second landfall did not bring winds as intense as the first, it brought more rainfall and caused devastating landslides in the states of Veracruz and Tabasco. Between the two landfalls, Dean caused MXN$2 billion (US$184 million; 2007 dollars) of damage and killed 13 people.
Forecasters and computer models at the Miami-based National Hurricane Center predicted that Hurricane Dean would impact the Yucatán Peninsula a full 6 days before the storm actually arrived. The hurricane's stable and well predicted path gave all of the countries in the region ample time to prepare for its arrival. On August 17, at the request of the Quintana Roo state government, which was expecting their state to suffer a direct hit, the Civil Protection Office of Mexico's federal Interior Ministry declared a state of emergency for the entire state. This included the towns and cities of Cancún, Playa del Carmen, and Chetumal as well as the islands of Cozumel, Isla Mujeres and Holbox.
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