Category 3 Hurricane Dean tears through eastern Caribbean

Hurricane Dean strengthens to Category 3 in Caribbean with 125 mph winds; 1 dead

CASTRIES, St. Lucia -- Hurricane Dean strengthened into a Category 3 storm and tore through the eastern Caribbean on Friday, ripping the roofs from a hospital and homes, and flooding buildings with rain and seawater. A 62-year-old man drowned -- the storm's first death.

With 125 mph winds, the first hurricane of the Atlantic season was expected to gain power over the warm waters of the Caribbean, hit Jamaica on Sunday and climb to Category 4 status before clipping Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Forecasters always warn, however, that their intensity predictions can be inaccurate that far in advance.

The storm was projected to steer into the Gulf of Mexico by Wednesday, threatening the U.S.-Mexico border area.

Residents on the French island of Martinique reported landslides and said scores of people were left homeless.

On St. Lucia, a former British colony just south of Martinique, Dean blew the corrugated metal roof off the pediatric ward at Victoria Hospital in Castries, the capital, but patients already were evacuated and no injuries were reported, said acting hospital director Hubert Emmanuel.

Buildings across this eastern Caribbean island lost their roofs, often made of corrugated metal. With utility poles down, the power company turned off electricity on the island to prevent electrocutions.

"We don't have a roof...everything is exposed. We tried to save what we could," said Josephine Marcelus in Morne Rouge, a town in northern Martinique. "We sealed ourselves in one room, praying that the hurricane stops blowing over Martinique."

The eye of Dean passed between St. Lucia and the French island of Martinique, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

In Washington, the State Department was preparing to announce it would allow some U.S. diplomats in Jamaica to leave the island to avoid the storm. The so-called "authorized departure" program would allow non-essential staff at the Kingston embassy and Montego Bay consulate to leave at government expense if they wish, officials said.

It was too early to tell if the storm would hit the United States. Texas was already dealing with the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin, which dropped up to 7 inches of rain in parts of San Antonio and Houston. Officials throughout central and southern Texas braced for 10 inches to 15 inches by Friday morning.

At least four people died Thursday in Erin's thunderstorms.

"It's so far out, but it's not too early to start preparing," said Katherine Cesinger, a spokeswoman for Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

Forecasters said it appeared Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands would be spared.