Western Caribbean dodges bullet with Dean

Western Caribbean dodges bullet with Dean Even though Hurricane Dean hit Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula as a dangerous Category 5 storm Tuesday, there was little impact on port and shipping services — good fortune seen in other Caribbean locations over the last five days.
   Officials at the Port of Progreso, the primary Yucatan port for general cargo, said Hurricane Dean passed far enough to the south that the port experienced little more than the heavy rains and strong winds. There were no serious damages or injuries reported there.
   Progreso trade specialist Linea Peninsular, based in Panama City, Fla., had all six of its vessels docked in Florida before the storm hit, and had scheduled two southbound sailings to Progreso pending final notification that Port of Progreso had electrical power needed to conduct operations.
   In the Cayman Islands, which had been under a hurricane warning Monday as Dean headed for Mexico, damage was minimal and water and power services were back up on Tuesday, according to officials at Thompson Line, a Tropical Shipping affiliate that specializes in the Caymans trade.
   Thompson Line said the port in Grand Cayman was opened Tuesday, and the carrier expected to work its regularly scheduled Thursday evening inbound vessel according to the standard schedule.
   The National Hurricane Center in Miami issued a hurricane warning for Dean, as a Category 2 hurricane, to hit Mexico's Gulf Coast early this afternoon in the State of Veracruz area, between Coatzacoalcos in the south and La Cruz to the north. That could impact the Port of Veracruz, which is the largest port in Mexico.