While it looked as though Mexico would take the brunt of Dean's fury with landfall expected later Monday, high winds and rain are expected from the "dirty" end of the storm and Texans were not taking any chances -- having learned from the devastation of huricanes Rita and Katrina two years ago.

Despite the storm, most of the region's oil continued to flow, as the total production fell only 3.2 percent -- or about 24,000 barrels per day -- in Gulf Coast federal waters, according to the US Minerals Management Services.

"It's not that far along yet, so we don't know," Mary Welge, an oil analyst with the Oil Price information Service said of the storm. So far, "there has been really no impact."

About 1,000 Shell Oil workers moved inland, cutting the company's oil production by some 39,000 barrels per day or less than 10 percent of normal levels, a spokeswoman said.

"At this point, we are suspending further evacuations," Shell spokeswoman Darci Sinclair said, as some 400 workers remained at the company's offshore sites monitoring Dean which appeared to be moving south.

Chevron evacuated all "non-essential" employees from its offshore operations, but the Houston-based company did not have to shut down any of its production facilities, spokesman Mickey Driver said.

Hurricane Dean approaches the Texas coast nearly two years after the devastating storms of 2005 -- Hurricanes Katrina and Rita -- which brought unprecedented damage to areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

Up and down the Texas coast preparations for the Dean's arrival have been more extensive than in past years, as new emergency plans drawn up since 2005 were implemented.

Government agencies were widely criticized for their slow response to the storm damage in 2005, when thousands of people were left stranded and the region was short on basic supplies, including food and gasoline.

President George W. Bush has already pre-emptively declared the region a disaster area, which would allow the quick dispatch of aid and emergency teams.

Texas Governor Rick Perry has mobilized the National Guard and search and rescue teams, and shipped 60,000 to 80,000 barrels of gasoline to gas stations in the Rio Grande Valley, state officials said.

In Brownsville, the Texas coastal city along the Mexico border, emergency management officials brought in more than 700 buses and a six military cargo planes in case of an evacuation.

And volunteers in the town of nearly 200,000 people turned out in recent days to fill 20,000 sandbags in case of severe flooding.

"This is all in reaction to what happened with Katrina," said Jimmy Manrrique, a spokesman for the city of Brownsville.

He pointed to large-scale assistance from state and federal authorities. "Now the cities and counties don't have to prepare by themselves."

On Monday, however, as weather indicators showed the storm veering to the south, officials along the coast were in "stand down mode," Manrrique said.

Dean is the first named hurricane of the 2007 season, but it has been an unusually rainy year in Texas. Widespread flooding has already left six dead this year, according to news reports.

Meanwhile, a space shuttle mission was cut short by a day amid fears that the Hurricane might disrupt operations at the National Aeronautical and Space Administrations center in Houston.

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