Hurricane Dean Grows To Category 2 Strength

Hurricane Dean, which has already cost insurers as much as $1.5 billion on its march across the Caribbean, has grown back into a Category 2 storm as it nears its second landfall in Mexico, according to the latest report from the National Hurricane Center.

It lead to several deaths in the Caribbean, though its highly feared landfall as a Category 5 behemoth in the Yucatan peninsula yesterday proved relatively mild, in great part because the storm hit thinly populated areas of jungle. It disrupted approximately 3% of the world's oil supply as production was suspended on Mexican oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

No significant damage has been reported from that oil infrastructure. Dean is expected to make its second landfall today, with 100 mph sustained winds. Hurricane-force winds extend 70 miles from the storm's center, and tropical storm-force winds extend outward some 200 miles. The hurricane remains strong enough to pose "life-threatening" hazards to the residents of Mexico where it will make landfall.

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