U.S. & World

CASTRIES, St. Lucia (CBS News) ― Hurricane Dean pummeled Jamaica with gusting winds and torrential rains Sunday after the prime minister made a last-minute plea for residents to abandon their homes and head for shelter. Many residents ignored the call, however, while tourists holed up in resorts with hurricane-proof walls.

The storm, which had already killed eight people on its destructive march across the Caribbean, triggered evacuation calls from the Cayman Islands to Texas, and forced the Space Shuttle to cut short its mission. Cruise ships changed course to avoid Dean, but some tourists in Jamaica could not get away before the island closed its airports late Saturday.

"It looks like the storm is going to go just by the southern coast of Jamaica," said Brian Norcross, hurricane analyst for CBS News' Miami affiliate WFOR. "It looks like the next stop is going to be the Cayman Islands but, again, it looks like the worst will miss to the south of Grand Cayman and then moving along to the Yucatan Peninsula, and this is going to take a direct hit probably south of Cancun, near the city of Tulum probably."

The Mexican mainland or Texas could be hit later.

Hurricane-force winds began lashing Jamaica on Sunday afternoon, said meteorologist Rebecca Waddington at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

One man called a local radio station to say his roof had just blown off. The line then went dead.

The government set up more than 1,000 shelters in converted schools, churches and the indoor national sports arena. Authorities urged people to take cover from the storm, which had maximum sustained winds of 145 mph and was expected to dump up to 20 inches of rain on the island.

But only 47 shelters were occupied as the storm began hitting, said Cecil Bailey of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management.

"For the last time, I'm asking you to leave or you will be in danger," Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller urged residents earlier as the storm loomed offshore.

As of 5 p.m. Sunday, Dean was located 50 miles south of Kingston and was traveling west at 20 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.

George Lee, mayor of the Portmore community near the capital Kingston, said appeals to evacuate had gone unheeded. Some islanders said they were afraid for their belongings if they moved to shelters.

"Too much crime in Kingston. I'm not leaving my home," Paul Lyn said in Port Royal, east of Kingston.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Linval Bailey said officers were sent to commercial districts to prevent looting and curfews were imposed until Monday evening. Authorities also cut power on the island to prevent damage to the electrical infrastructure.

Many tourists who did not get flights out took shelter at places like Sandals Whitehouse, a resort that has buildings capable of withstanding a powerful storm.

Trinice Tyler, a postal worker from Lake Elsinore, California, said she would weather the storm there "on my knees praying."

"I'm celebrating my 40th birthday today, and it's going to be a birthday to remember," she said. "I have mixed emotions. It's exciting, but I'm nervous. Am I going to make it home?"

Earlier in the day, fishermen hauled their skiffs inland and cruise ships changed their course to avoid the storm. Local media reported that 17 fisherman were stranded on the Middle Keys, small islands 90 miles south of Jamaica. The Jamaica Defense Force urged them to break the padlocks off a building to seek shelter, Nationwide News Network reported.

The National Hurricane Center said the first hurricane of the Atlantic season was projected to reach the most dangerous classification, Category 5, with sustained winds of 160 mph.

In Galveston, Texas, residents remembered the 2005 Hurricane Rita evacuation when motorists from the coast ran into residents fleeing Houston, clogging evacuation routes for miles. Officials say they've worked out the kinks in the system, but many Galveston residents were skeptical.

"I've talked to a lot of people about this," said Chuck Lee, a resident. "They'd rather die in their homes than die in their cars on some highway."

In the Cayman Islands, tourists were ordered to board shuttle buses for the airport. Hundreds of frantic vacationers lined up at ticket counters for special flights home, and many slept on the airport floor. Cayman Islands Gov. Stuart Jack said all but 1,500 tourists were evacuated from the British territory by Sunday afternoon.

"It's kind of spooky," said George Mitchell, of Detroit, who missed his flight out. "We don't know what to do or where to go. It freaks you out."

Jack said a curfew would be imposed Sunday night "to ensure that everybody has taken cover" and that two British Royal Navy vessels would arrive Monday to provide emergency aid.

"I am confident that we are in the best possible position to face this storm," he said. "Everyone take care and God bless."

In Mexico, tourists also streamed out of resorts on Yucatan peninsula and formed long lines at the airport to try to fly home. Twelve empty planes arrived Sunday to move travelers out, said airport spokesman Eduardo Rivadeneira. The state government set up 530 shelters with a capacity of 73,000 people.

The hurricane created massive waves and surges high as 20 feet as it passed the Dominican Republic on Saturday, flooding roads and drowning a boy. At least two people were killed and about 150 homes were destroyed in Haiti, emergency officials said.

(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)