WHAT GLOBAL WARMING ?? Mexico Abandons Oil Rigs Ahead of Dean

Mexico Abandons Oil Rigs Ahead of Dean
Tuesday August 21, 2007 3:16 AM
By MARK STEVENSON - Associated Press Writer
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6864683,00.html


TULUM, Mexico (AP) - Hurricane Dean strengthened into a monstrous Category 5 storm Monday night as its first rain and winds began slamming the coasts of Mexico and Belize. Thousands of tourists fled the beaches of the Mayan Riviera as it roared toward the ancient ruins and modern oil installations of the Yucatan Peninsula.

Mexico's state oil company, Petroleos de Mexico, said it was evacuating all of its more than 14,000 offshore workers in the southern Gulf of Mexico, which includes the giant Cantarell oil field. Dozens of historically significant Mayan sites also were emptied.

Dean - which has killed at least 12 people across the Caribbean - quickly picked up strength after brushing Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

By 8:35 p.m. EDT, it had sustained winds of 160 mph and was centered about 210 miles south-southeast of Tulum, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. Category 5 storms - capable of catastrophic damage - are rare with only three have hit the U.S. since record-keeping began. .....

Do you remember all those massive ones last year? Me neither. It's hot, and after 2005, I guess it was time for a hurricane. I don't want to even know how this season shapes up. Because of global warming...no one knows.

we can expect more intense storms, and perhaps more of them too, according to predictions.