How big is big?

"'If we had this impact in the United States, say in Tampa or Miami the damage would have been catastrophic, on the order of tens of billions of dollars of damage,' said Chris Landsea of the National Hurricane Center."

This is, I might point out, one of the strongest hurricanes we've ever seen. Note that if one of the strongest hurricanes to ever hit struck the most populated and developed city in the Tropical Atlantic or Gulf Coasts, Miami, we'd be looking at "tens of billions of dollars of damage." Whatever happened to that $500 billion dollar estimate earlier this year?

Dean Bark Bigger Than It's Bite
ABC News

Hurricane Dean, one of the strongest hurricanes on record, is gearing up to make a second landfall on Mexican soil today after crossing the Yucatan Peninsula Tuesday.

Fortunately, Dean, which hit the coast as a Category 5 storm with 165 mph winds and gusts up to 200 mph, missed the most heavily populated resort areas when it made landfall early Tuesday.

After dropping to an 80 mph Category 1 storm overnight, Dean has now regrouped into a Category 2 storm, with winds around 100 mph. It may hit land before getting too much stronger, forecasters say.

It is expected to hit the coast later today just north of Veracruz.

It is moving through the Bay of Campechee, punishing Mexican offshore oil-drilling operations that produce oil for the U.S. market. Most of the platforms have been evacuated and the state-owned oil company Pemax has reportedly cut back production by as much as 80 percent.

Dean has already killed at least 12 people after brushing by Jamaica and the Caymen Islands as it sped through the Caribbean.

By the time Dean came ashore Tuesday over the tiny indigenous village of Majahual, Mexico, it had become the most intense Atlantic hurricane to make landfall in two decades, with a storm surge of 12 to 18 feet.