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Hurricane Dean has been upgraded to category four as it rages across the Caribbean.

Islands lashed by DeanIt has already killed three people and islands in the region have been lashed by 120mph winds.

In St. Lucia, the storm tore corrugated metal roofs from dozens of homes and the pediatric ward of a hospital, whose patients had been evacuated hours earlier.

Police spokeswoman Tamara Charles said a 62-year-old man was swept away and drowned when he tried to retrieve a cow from a rain-swollen river.

In Dominica, a woman and her 7-year-old son were killed when a rain-soaked hillside gave way and crushed the home where they were sleeping, said Cecil Shillingford, the national disaster coordinator.

The hurricane is heading west on a collision course with Jamaica, where emergency plans have already been activated, and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

It is expected to pass into the Gulf of Mexico, where 4,000 oil and gas platforms are located.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC said it would evacuate 275 nonessential personnel from the Gulf, adding to the 188 who left earlier this week before another tropical storm struck Texas.

By Wednesday, it could be threatening the United States, and Texas Governor Rick Perry's spokeswoman suggested people get ready.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1280366,00.html