Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Hurricane Dean slammed into Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula today with ``potentially catastrophic'' winds of 260 kilometers (160 miles) per hour, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on its Web site.

The eye of Dean was 160 kilometers east of the city of Chetumal in Mexico at 1 a.m. local time, the Center said in the latest advisory posted on its Web site. The storm was moving west at 32 kilometers an hour. Dean is strong enough to rip off roofs, flood seaside buildings and down trees, shrubs and signs, the center said.

``Preparations to protect life and property along the east coast of the Yucutan Peninsula should have already been completed,'' the advisory said.

Dean was forecast to pass near Chetumal, about 50 kilometers from where the eye is expected to cross land. Mexico closed its biggest Gulf oil platforms and tourists had largely evacuated the beach resorts of Cancun, Cozumel and Playa del Carmen about 390 kilometers to the north of Chetumal."