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Dean could strengthen and come ashore again in Mexico at about 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday, possibly near Laguna Verde - home to the nation's only nuclear power plant - or at Tecolutla, a coastal river town and oil industry hub. WHAT DO YOU THINK?
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(CBS/AP) Hurricane Dean swept across the Yucatan peninsula Tuesday, toppling trees, power lines and houses as it bore down on the heart of Mexico's oil industry. Glitzy resorts on the Mayan Riviera were spared, but vulnerable Mayan villages were exposed to the full fury of one of history's most intense storms.
President Felipe Calderon said no deaths were immediately reported in Mexico, after Dean killed 13 people in the Caribbean. But driving rain, poor communications and impassable roads made it difficult to determine how isolated Mayan communities fared in the sparsely populated jungle where Dean made landfall as a ferocious Category 5 hurricane.
Dean is the most powerful Atlantic hurricane to hit land in two decades, reports CBS News correspondent Bianca Solorzano .
Dean weakened over land but is expected to strengthen as its eye moved over the Bay of Campeche, home to more than 100 oil platforms and three major oil exporting ports. The sprawling, westward storm was projected to slam into the mainland at about 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday, with renewed force near Laguna Verde, Mexico's only nuclear power plant.
"We often see that when a storm weakens, people let down their guard completely. You shouldn't do that," said Jamie Rhome at the U.S. National Hurricane Center. "This storm probably won't become a Category 5 again, but it will still be powerful."
At 5 p.m. EDT, Dean had winds of 80 mph and was centered about 60 miles west-southwest of Campeche. The storm was moving west at 20 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.
For all its power, Dean's path was fortunate, taking it across one of the most sparsely populated sections of the coastlinenear the cruise ship port of Costa Maya, which had largely been evacuated, reports Solorzano.
While 50,000 tourists were safely evacuated from resorts on the Yucatan peninsula, many poor Indians closer to the storm's direct path refused military orders to leave their homes, according to Gen. Alfonso Garcia, who was running shelters in Felipe Carrillo Puerto, 30 miles north of the eye's path.
Troops evacuated more than 250 small communities, and 8,000 people took refuge in 500 shelters, said Jorge Acevedo, a Quintana Roo state spokesman. Others turned away soldiers with machetes and refused to leave, but some of them changed their minds when the winds and rain intensified, he said.
Little was known about the thousands who rode out the storm in low-lying communities of stick huts or the handful who hid from soldiers evacuating smaller resorts like Majahual, where Dean made landfall with 165 mph winds and gusts of 200 mph  faster than the takeoff speed of many passenger jets.
"I'm really worried the hurricane passed over the Mayan communities, which are the poorest on the Yucatan peninsula," Calderon said before leaving Canada on a flight to Chetumal.
Mexican officials said they are making slow progress on nearly impassable, unpaved roads to reach the most likely hardest hit places. In less isolated towns, people emerged to survey toppled trees and downed power lines crisscrossing flooded streets.
"If only the government would lend us a hand," said Georgina Hernandez, 59, whose three children all lost their homes in the town of Los Limones.
Dean's path takes it directly through the Cantarell oil field, Mexico's most productive. The entire field's operations were shut down just ahead of the storm, reducing daily production by 2.7 million barrels of oil and 2.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas.
Insured losses from the storm are likely to range between $750 million and $1.5 billion, according to Risk Management Solutions, which calculates hurricane damage for the insurance industry. Most of that was in Jamaica, which Tuesday postponed its Aug. 27 general elections, in order to take time to survey the damage.
Mexico's insured losses won't exceed $400 million, predicted AIR Worldwide, another insurance consulting company.
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Hurricane Dean satellite image as of 19:15 UTC on August 21, 2007.
After gaining strength in the western Caribbean last night,  made landfall as a Category 5 storm on Mexico's  at about 4:30 a.m. this morning (EDT). 

The storm struck just north of , the capital of the Mexican state of . However, hurricane-force winds were felt over 60 miles (~100 km) away from the center of the storm, and tropical storm conditions impacted areas 175 miles (280 km) away.

The Mexican government ordered the deployment of over 4,000 troops, and declared a state of emergency in the state of Campeche. Some areas braced for up to 20 inches (510 mm) of rain.

Dean made landfall as a category 5 storm, before being downgraded hours later to a category 3 storm. Later Tuesday afternoon, Dean was downgraded to a category 2 storm. Currently, the storm maintains category 1 status, with top sustained winds at 85 mph (137 km/h). 

The hurricane moved towards modern oil installations of the Yucatan Peninsula, prompting evacuations of offshore oil rigs that produce most of Mexico's oil and gas.

Forecasters warn the storm could pick up strength as it crosses the  and turn into an even more destructive hurricane before making a second landfall on Wednesday.

A hurricane warning remains in effect along the Gulf Coast of Mexico from south of Progreso to Tampico.

Forecasters do not believe it presents a threat to the United States.

Dean is being blamed for 13 deaths already.