Hurricane Dean is passing close to Jamaica, pushing winds of 240km/h (150mph). Here the storm is seen from the space shuttle Endeavour.
The eye of the storm passed some miles out to sea, but nonetheless the island's south coast has taken a battering.
Before the hurricane arrived, some Jamaicans were evacuated from low-lying areas into special shelters.
However, very few people are reported to have moved to local schools where shelters had been set up.
Before the storm arrived some boarded up their homes with plywood in the hope of reducing the storm's impact.
For days the islanders queued to buy kerosene...
...and bottled water was also in demand.
Residents and tourists in the Cayman Islands, where the hurricane is predicted to go next, have been evacuated through the international airport in Georgetown.
The island of Dominica was among the first to be hit as hurricane winds whipped up the sea.
The hurricane has wreaked havoc, destroying banana plantations like this one in the French territory of Martinique.
Mindful of the 2005 Katrina disaster, the US is also making plans while hoping Dean will blow itself out.
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