Two women look for shelter during light rain and strong wind from Hurricane Dean as it moved along Haiti's southern coast in Les Cayes, about 147km (92 miles) from Port-au-Prince, yesterday. - AP

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (CMC):

At least two people were reported killed in Haiti as Hurricane Dean brushed past the country's southern tip yesterday, bringing to 11 the number of Caribbean fatalities left in its wake.

Officials said the southern town of Les Engles appeared hardest hit with more than 200 houses being destroyed or damaged, while two people were confirmed dead and 10 others injured when the powerful Category Four hurricane continued on its westward track across the Caribbean Sea.

Disaster officials confirmed that a 36-year-old man died when a tree fell on his house, while the circumstances of the other death were not immediately clear.

Grave destruction

Prime Minister Yvon Neptune said while authorities were still assessing the damage done by the hurricane, early signs suggested that the destruction was grave.

He said Haitians followed the advice of disaster officials and more than 5,000 residents evacuated low-lying and flood-prone areas for safe harbour in government-provided shelters ahead of the hurricane.

"There was a change in attitude of the people; everyone cooperated," the Prime Minister said, while noting that thefigures in the impact assessment were only provisional and could grow as further reports came in.

Neptune said the level of damage was also minimised because Dean brought more high winds than rain, alleviating the chronic problems of landslides and widespread flooding - products of the destruction of Haiti's tree stock - which were largely responsible for most of the lives lost in previous weather systems.

The system has also was also being blamed for two deaths each in St. Lucia, Dominica and Martinique and one in the Dominican Republic, with Trinidad, which was not in the system's path, saying feeder bands whipped up high waves which killed two residents in a coastal district Friday.

Dean is the first hurricane of the 2007 Atlantic season.