Hurricane Gustav Gains Strength, Is Heading for Haiti

By Alex Morales and Brian K. Sullivan

Aug. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Hurricane Gustav gained strength over the Caribbean Sea and is forecast to make landfall later today in Haiti, which was hit this month by Tropical Storm Fay.

Gustav, which intensified from a tropical storm earlier today, was packing sustained winds of 85 miles (140 kilometers) per hour, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in an advisory posted on its Web site just before 5 a.m. Miami time. The system, located 100 miles south-southeast of the Haitian capital, Port- au-Prince, was heading northwest at 9 mph.

``On this track this hurricane should move over southwestern Haiti later today and near or just south of Cuba on Wednesday,'' the center said. ``Intense rains may produce life-threatening flash floods and mud slides.''

Tropical Storm Fay last week left a trail of death and flooding in the Caribbean and Florida, where it made an unprecedented four landfalls before weakening over Mississippi. Haiti in recent years has proved vulnerable to flooding and mudslides caused by storms because deforestation has left the nation short of vegetation to hold rainwater and soil.

A hurricane warning was in place from Barahona in the Dominican Republic westward to Le Mole St. Nicholas in Haiti.

The storm may bring 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain to parts of the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica, the U.S. center said, adding that Gustav may become a Category 2 storm, with winds of at least 96 mph, before landfall. Hurricanes are rated on the 5-step Saffir-Simpson scale, with Categories 3 or higher deemed ``major'' storms.

Potential to Strengthen

``Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion,'' the center said. ``Interests in central and western Cuba and the Cayman Islands should closely monitor the progress of Gustav.''

After making landfall in Haiti, Gustav is forecast to track between Cuba and Jamaica, before crossing the western tip of Cuba on Aug. 30 or 31, according to the hurricane center. The storm may acquire ``major'' hurricane status late in the week, Paul Walker, a meteorologist at AccuWeather Inc., said today in a telephone interview from State College, Pennsylvania.

``It has the potential to strengthen to Category 3 as it moves closer to the Cayman Islands later this week,'' Walker said. ``It doesn't look like it'll reach the Gulf of Mexico until the weekend or early next week. It may disrupt the production of oil next week.'' The Gulf is home to about one-fifth of all U.S. oil production.

Gustav formed yesterday as a depression and then a tropical storm, before reaching the 74 mph threshold for a hurricane early today. Gustav is the seventh named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 through Nov. 30. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's forecasters predict 14 to 18 named storms will develop this year.

To contact the reporters on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net; Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net.