Dean Storm moved at 204km / h to hit the Caribbean

The Jamaican government evacuated people from the coast and tourists also boarded the plane out of the country only hours before Hurricane Dean struck the island directly.

Hurricane Dean moved at an incredible speed - 240 km / h, attacking it directly on the island nation on Sunday after it severely damaged along the western Caribbean Sea. All schools, churches and even multi-purpose sports stadiums are also requisitioned by the Jamaican government as a shelter for people.

Fishermen are bringing boats to storm shelter in the capital Kingston (Photo: BBC)

Dean, the first storm of the Atlantic storm season, swept through the Caribbean to the south of Hispaniola, the island of both Haiti and the Dominican Republic while heavy rain caused heavy flooding in coastal areas.

Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller said the country was facing a state of emergency and urged people in areas where major floods could be found.

Hundreds of thousands of tourists rushed to the Caribbean airports crowded with people. The Cuban government issued a warning about the storm and evacuated 50,000 people from the provinces in East and Central.

According to the forecast of the National Hurricane Center in Miami (USA), Typhoon Dean will land on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and Gulf of Mexico tomorrow, August 21. Meteorologists said yesterday afternoon that it is still too early to confirm whether Typhoon Dean will hit the US.

Typhoon Dean forced NASA to shorten the astronauts' space travel time on the Endeavor spacecraft to return to Earth one day earlier than expected.

The US aviation agency is concerned that if Hurricane Dean headed straight for the Texas coast, it could have an impact on the control system located in Houston.

Going out into space has been cut short by 2 hours so astronauts can be well prepared for the landing tomorrow, August 21. NASA also decided not to fix a hole in the underside of the Endeavor spacecraft before returning to Earth.

Direction of Typhoon Dean (Photo: BBC)

Huy Anh