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Jamaica braces for Gustav; Haiti says 51 dead - CNN.com

Jamaica braces for Gustav; Haiti says 51 dead - CNN.com

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) — As Jamaican authorities prepared Thursday for Tropical Storm Gustav, which forecasters said could soon regain hurricane strength, Haiti raised its death toll from the storm to more than 50.

Workers secure the wing of a plane Thursday on Grand Cayman Island as Tropical Storm Gustav approaches.

Jamaica’s government evacuated people from surrounding islands and prepared to move residents out of low-lying areas ahead of the storm, a military spokesman said.

Meanwhile, oil companies began to pull workers off drill rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, and authorities in the southeastern United States took steps to prepare for what forecasters warned could be a major storm early next week.

As Gustav crawled across the Caribbean, Tropical Storm Hanna formed out of a tropical depression northeast of Puerto Rico on Thursday, the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.

Shortly before 2 p.m. ET, Gustav was centered about 40 miles (64 kilometers) east of the Jamaican capital, Kingston, the National Hurricane Center in Miami reported. The storm had top winds of 70 mph (112 kph), just below the 74-mph (119 kph) threshold of a minimal hurricane.

Gustav hit Haiti as a hurricane Tuesday. On Thursday, Haiti raised its death toll from 14 to 51, said Pierre Louis Pinchinat, deputy director of the civil defense directorate.

In the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, authorities said a mudslide triggered by heavy rain killed eight people in Santo Domingo early Wednesday.

The dead included two women in their 30s and six children ages 2 to 15, according to government figures.

Pinchinat said that about 6,500 people in Haiti were living in shelters as of Wednesday, though some had returned to their homes Thursday.

Jamaica’s government posted a hurricane warning Thursday and opened shelters for those in low-lying areas. Maj. Mahatma Williams, the operations officer for the country’s military, said forecasters expect the storm to hit about 9 p.m. Local governments were ordering some people out of low-lying areas.

UT Austin - University of Texas Austin OTR: Hurricane Gustav Track Brings Scary Reminder Of Hurricane Katrina

Gustav could be headed for you.

Almost three years ago exactly, New Orleans residents worried whether the still-forming Hurricane Katrina could be coming their way. Now, these same residents are anxiously watching the potential hurricane Gustav’s path. The storm has already caused a deadly landslide, dumped torrential rains and killed up to 22 people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

CNN reports on the affect Gustav could have on New Orleans:

“If it hits the city anywhere near how [Katrina] hit, no one’s going to come back,” Wilma Crochet told The Times-Picayune newspaper.

Officials stressed how uncertain the projections were so many days in advance but urged residents to be ready for the worst.

“Everybody should be looking at their plans, just like we’re looking at our plans, and get ready,” said Jerry Sneed, director of New Orleans’ Office of Emergency Preparedness. “If they don’t have a plan, you still have time. If you wait until the storm’s on top of you, that’s when panic’s going to set in and you don’t think wisely.”

After all this, Tulane should just pick up and move.

I hear Colorado is pretty hurricane-free.

UT Austin - University of Texas Austin OTR: Hurricane Gustav Track Brings Scary Reminder Of Hurricane Katrina