Hurricane Dean Intensifies to Category 5, Heads Toward Mexico (2/2)

In south Florida, businessman Leo Benjamin said he managed to catch a late flight out of Jamaica before the storm, but three members of his missionary" class="hjdict" word="missionary" target=_blank>missionary team did not. He said he spoke by telephone with them late Sunday, as the storm battered the home where they took refuge in Kingston.

"They were hearing trees snap. In the house they were in, the roof came off, all the shingles came off, they were spending their time mopping up water, and they watched the house next door lose a lot of their shingles also."

Benjamin said he spoke by telephone early Monday with residents of Jamaica's north coast, where people expressed relief that storm damage was relativelyminor.

Since last week, Hurricane Dean has been blamed for at least eight deaths in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and the island of Dominica.

In the southern United States, officials in Texas and Louisiana have ordered emergency crews to monitor the storm for possible heavy rainfall and winds.

Officials with the U.S. space agency have ordered the shuttle Endeavour to return to earth Tuesday, one day ahead of schedule, because of weather concerns at Mission Control in Houston, Texas.