Hurricane Gustav gains strength on way to Cuba

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Rain clouds form off Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman Island seen from Westin Casuarina Resort and Spa at sunset as the Gustav storm system approaches, Friday, Aug. 29, 2008. Gustav became a hurricane again on Friday as it plowed toward Cayman Islands resorts, the start of a buildup that could take it to the U.S. Gulf Coast as a fearsome Category-3 storm three years after Hurricane Katrina. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

By MAURA AXELROD
GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (AP) -- Gustav rapidly gained power early Saturday and verged on becoming a fearsome Category 3 hurricane as it neared western Cuba on a track to hit the U.S. Gulf Coast three years after Hurricane Katrina.

Gustav, which killed 71 people in the Caribbean, rolled over the Cayman Islands Friday with fierce winds that tore down trees and power lines. It was expected to cross Cuba's cigar country Saturday and head into the Gulf of Mexico by Sunday.

Gustav first struck Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, the smaller easternmost "Sister Islands" in the chain. Storm surge and heavy rains flooded the streets.

More than 1,100 people were in government shelters in the three islands as high waves and heavy winds battered the chain, the National Emergency Operations Center said in a statement. No injuries were reported.

"We're just trying to wait it out," said Juliana O'Connor-Connolly, who represents the islands in the Cayman legislature, by cell phone from the kitchen of her farm on Cayman Brac.

She said about 40 people were riding out the storm in her home, which at 65 feet (20 meters) elevation is safe from flooding but still vulnerable to winds that ripped out hundreds of fruit trees on the farm.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm grew into a Category 2 hurricane early Saturday with maximum winds of 100 mph.

By 5 a.m. EDT Saturday, Gustav's top sustained winds were near 110 mph, just short of the threshold for the Category 3 status that defines a major hurricane. The storm's eye was about 255 miles east-southeast of the western tip of Cuba and about 135 miles southeast of Cuba's isle of Youth. It was moving northwest near 12 mph.

Forecasters said it could become a Category 3 storm, with winds from 111 mph to 130 mph, anytime before reaching Cuba and could strengthen further over the Gulf of Mexico.

Caymans authorities did not impose a curfew but urged people to remain indoors to avoid interfering with emergency workers.

Hotels asked guests to leave and, after the airport closed, prepared to shelter those who remained. Chris Smith, of Frederick, Maryland, said his hotel handed out wrist bands marked with guests' names and room numbers so that "if something happens they can quickly identify us."

"That was a little bit sobering," he said, standing outside the hotel with his luggage.

The storm killed four people in a daylong march across the length of Jamaica, where it ripped off roofs and downed power lines. About 4,000 people were displaced from their homes, with about half relocated to shelters. Prime Minister Bruce Golding said the government sent helicopters Friday to rescue 31 people trapped by floods.

At least 59 people died in Haiti and eight in the Dominican Republic.

Gustav could strike the U.S. Gulf coast anywhere from the Florida Panhandle to Texas, but forecasters said there is a better-than-even chance that New Orleans will get slammed by at least tropical-storm-force winds.

As much as 80 percent of the Gulf of Mexico's oil and gas production could be shut down as a precaution if Gustav enters as a major storm, weather research firm Planalytics predicted. Oil companies have already evacuated hundreds of workers from offshore platforms.

Retail gas prices rose Friday for the first time in 43 days as analysts warned that a direct hit on Gulf energy infrastructure could send pump prices hurtling toward $5 a gallon. Crude oil prices ended slightly lower in a volatile session as some traders feared supply disruptions and others bet the U.S. government will release supplies from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Gustav was projected to hit Cuba's Isle of Youth, then cross the main island into the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday night or Sunday. Cuban state television announced that effective Saturday, all buses and trains to and from Havana will be suspended until further notice.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Hanna was projected to curl westward into the Bahamas by early next week. It had sustained winds near 50 mph early Saturday.

Along the U.S. Gulf Coast, most commemorations of the Katrina anniversary were canceled because of Gustav, but in New Orleans a horse-drawn carriage took the bodies of Katrina's last seven unclaimed victims to burial.

President Bush declared an emergency in Louisiana, a move that allows the federal government to coordinate disaster relief and provide assistance in storm-affected areas.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said an evacuation order was likely, though not before Saturday, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency said it expects a "huge number" of Gulf Coast residents will be told to leave the region this weekend.

Closer to the storm, workers at the Westin Causarina Hotel on Grand Cayman island shored up ground-floor rooms with sandbags.

"We've taken in all the balcony furniture, all the pool furniture, the marquees, tied up what needs to be tied up, cut down any coconuts," said hotel manager Dan Szydlowski.

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