Its outer bands swept over the Greater Antilles; the storm surge was felt from the eastern side of Puerto Rico to the western tip of Cuba.

Despite a number of near misses, Hurricane Dean did not make landfall in the Greater Antilles and the islands were spared the brunt of the storm.

Global aid organizations contributed to the subsequent recovery effort; immediate life-saving needs were met within days, but the damage to Jamaica's infrastructure and economy took much longer to repair.

[3] Workers from World Vision, already on the island for unrelated humanitarian work, pre-positioned food, clean water, medicines and emergency generators in the southern provinces where hurricane warnings had been issued.

[7] The Haitian coastal authority advised all small craft to stay in port, while at Port-au-Prince, all flights to southern Haiti from Toussaint Louverture International Airport were canceled.

[citation needed] More than 1,000 people were evacuated from low-lying areas[5] and workers from World Vision again pre-positioned relief supplies.

[10] The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA), which was already responding to Hurricane Dean's impact in the Lesser Antilles, contacted the Jamaican Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management to confirm technical and logistics support, and to notify the Jamaican government that utilities teams had been placed on standby should they be needed.

[13] Only one member of a United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination team arrived in Jamaica before all incoming flights were canceled.

[15][16] UNICEF prepared 4 emergency health kits and 1,000 water containers and Copa Airlines agreed to fly the supplies to Jamaica on its scheduled August 22 flight, if possible.

This five-member team of disaster management experts was equipped with satellite communication systems to provide video-teleconferencing and help make real-time assessments of any damage.

[21] More than 350,000 people were evacuated by the Civil Defense in the coastal provinces,[5][22] and the government in Havana suspended all tourist programs ahead of the storm.

[27] Two Royal Navy ships of the Atlantic Patrol Task (North), HMS Portland and RFA Wave Ruler, followed 240 km (150 mi) behind the storm in order to arrive at Cayman as soon after the hurricane as possible.

[29] It never made landfall in the island chain,[30] but at Category 4 strength the storm passed just 40 km (25 mi) south of Jamaica.

Strengthening again as it passed the islands, Dean regained Category 5 strength off the eastern tip of Cuba before making landfall in Mexico.

[29] Hurricane Dean passed 270 km (170 mi) south of the Dominican Republic's capital, Santo Domingo, and although the island experienced relatively little wind,[32][33] heavy rain flooded the streets.

The strong wave activity on the southern coastline attracted a crowd of onlookers and a 16-year-old boy was swept out to sea and drowned as he watched 16-foot (4.9 m) swells break over a road in Santo Domingo.

[36] Also, five fishermen drowned in the northern Santiago province after their boat capsized due to the effect of wind and torrential rain in the Tavera Dam, near the town of Baitoa.

[54][55] Rain from Hurricane Dean closed several roads throughout Puerto Rico and there was heavy surf along the island's coast, but no deaths or injuries were reported.

On August 23 the Haitian government sent food, sachets of potable water, mattresses, and medicines to the town of Bainet in the Sud-Est department.

[61] The Chinese Red Cross, despite dealing with Typhoon Sepat, sent US$30,000 to its Jamaican counterpart for the purchase of emergency relief supplies.

[62] On August 24 Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller announced that her government would provide JA$225 million in emergency assistance to the country's agriculture sector, especially the parishes of Portland, Clarendon, St. Thomas, Manchester, St. Catherine and St. Elizabeth.

[63] She also announced that the National Housing Trust had established a JA$500 million programme to provide loans at 6% per annum for emergency repairs.

[66] Opponents accused Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller of unnecessarily extending the state of emergency (and related curfews) to maintain her political control[66] as predictions at the time suggested that she and her party would be ousted by the opposition.