Hurricane Dean picked up strength in the Caribbean Friday afternoon and forecasters upgraded it to a major, category three storm, according to dpa. Earlier in the day, Dean blew between the islands of Saint Lucia and Martinique and was located 280 kilometres west of Martinique at 1745 GMT and was moving west through the eastern Caribbean at 35 kilometres an hour, the US National Hurricane Centre said. Its winds had increased to 205 kilometres an hour and were expected to strengthen further. Storm warning remained in place throughout the region, including flash flood warnings. The remnants of another tropical storm, Erin, pummelled the US state of Texas causing flooding. Seven people died in storm-related accidents in Texas on Thursday, the Houston Chronicle newspaper reported. Up to 24 centimetres of rain had fallen in San Antonio and Houston, the Weather Channel reported.
