As Hurricane Dean roared across the Caribbean late last week, forecasts predicted that the storm's powerful center might cross the Caymans and give the islands a pounding similar to Ivan. (How does a hurricane work?)
But a low-pressure system over the United States that could have drawn the storm more northward toward the Caymans and the U.S. Gulf Coast has moved away.
Angela Martins, deputy chair of the Caymans' National Hurricane Committee, said airlines serving the islands had sent in extra planes, and that about 2,500 people had evacuated as of Sunday.
"Everywhere I look, everyone is shuttering up," Martins said.
Preparations for Dean also are being made in the United States, even though forecasters think Dean will stay well to the south.
For example, NASA officials decided to cut short the mission of the space shuttle Endeavor, which has been docked at the International Space Station.
Officials made the decision because of concerns that the hurricane might make a last-minute turn northward. The New York Times reported Sunday that NASA will monitor Deans movements before deciding whether to land Endeavor on Tuesday in Florida, Texas, New Mexico, or California.
And Saturday President George W. Bush declared a state of emergency in his home state of Texas, setting in motion preparations by the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
But in Brownsville, Texas—just north of the U.S.-Mexico border—National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologists don't expect dramatic effects from Hurricane Dean.
"We don't anticipate anything much in the way of effects," Joseph Tomaselli, a meteorologist at the Brownsville NWS office, told National Geographic News. "We may see some breezy conditions here."
Tomaselli said Dean could bring scattered showers and thunderstorms and probably heavy rainfall in some places.
"It appears at this time that the real impact will be to South Padre Island," Tomaselli said.
"We anticipate issuing a coastal flooding warning within the next 24 hours," he said, "with significant swells from Hurricane Dean making an impact on the lower Texas coast."
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