Hurricane Dean made landfall on Mexico's Yucatan coast Tuesday morning as a monster Category 5 storm -- capable of inflicting catastrophic damage -- after gaining intensity in the western Caribbean overnight. The leading edge of Dean's eyewall moved ashore at about 4:30 a.m. Tuesday just north of Chetumal, the capital of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, according to the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center. Dean's maximum sustained winds were 165 mph, and the center of the storm was about 35 miles east-northeast of Chetumal moving west-northwest at about 20 mph, according to the NHC's 4 a.m. (5 a.m. ET) advisory. A Category 5 storm is the most extreme level on the Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity. Such hurricanes can have a storm surge of more than 18 feet and are powerful enough to take off roofs, uproot trees, blow out windows and even completely destroy some structures, CNN reported.
