(August 20, 2007)—Hurricane Dean was still a Category 4 storm late Monday afternoon, but its pressure was dropping and forecasters say it’s just a matter of time before Dean strengthens into a Category 5 hurricane.

A hurricane warning is in effect for the entire coastline of Belize, along the east coast of the Yucatan peninsula from the Belize-Mexico border north to the resort of Cancun, and along the west coast of the Yucatan peninsula from south of Progresso to Ciudad Del Carmen.

At 4 p.m. CDT, Dean’s center was about 270 miles east of Chetumal, Mexico, and the storm was moving west near 20 miles per hour.

On its current track, forecasters say Dean would make landfall on the Yucatan peninsula early Tuesday morning.

Late Monday afternoon, maximum sustained winds were near 150 miles per hour with higher gusts and forecasters say Dean is likely to become a Category 5 storm before making landfall.

Travelers by the thousands flew out of Cancun ahead of the menacing hurricane as workers boarded up the windows of luxury hotels on a tourist strip still being rebuilt after the blow from Hurricane Wilma two years ago.

Now it's quiet. There are no tourists left," Adrian Ramirez, a local hotel worker told AP Television.

Even though they aren't expecting a direct hit, Texas officials are preparing for the possibility of more rain from the storm's outer bands.

Gov. Rick Perry says Texas isn't likely to "escape completely unscathed."

East Texas has already had an unusually rainy summer, and the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin caused deadly flooding over the weekend.

Officials in southern Texas are opening emergency operations centers and passing out sandbags along the coast.

Shelters have been set up in 28 communities and medical helicopters are ready to help special-needs evacuees.

Residents of Cameron County, at the southern tip of Texas, are being urged to evacuate ahead of the storm.

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