Tropical Storm Gustav Heads to Caymans; U.S. Prepares

By Ryan Flinn and Brian K. Sullivan

Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Tropical Storm Gustav crossed Jamaica and headed for the Cayman Islands as residents of the U.S. state of Louisiana prepared for the system to strengthen to a hurricane and hit areas devastated by Katrina three years ago.

Gustav's maximum sustained winds fell to 65 miles per hour (100 kilometers) at 2 a.m. Miami time today from 70 mph late yesterday as it passed over land, the National Hurricane Center said. The eye of Gustav was 60 miles west of Kingston, Jamaica. The storm is expected to regain strength and become a hurricane today as it moves back over water.

``We're really going to have to watch it once it gets off land,'' Josh Newhard, a meteorologist with private forecaster AccuWeather.com, said in an interview yesterday. ``It could be a pretty strong hurricane by day's end.''

As much as 25 inches (64 centimeters) of rain may fall in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, where hurricane warnings are in effect. The storm, which killed more than 50 people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, prompted the evacuation of offshore oil workers in the Gulf of Mexico and the governors of Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas declared emergencies.

The system was heading west at 8 mph last night. Gustav may weaken tonight over Jamaica and then regain strength during the next two days as it sweeps over the Cayman Islands, the U.S. center said.

Heading to Cuba

It may pass the western tip of Cuba tomorrow after 8 p.m. Miami time and then enter the Gulf, where water temperatures above 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 Celsius) will help it strengthen. The current forecast shows Gustav making landfall in central Louisiana on Sept. 2.

Jamaica opened 16 emergency shelters yesterday and advised residents of low-lying areas to evacuate, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management said in an e-mailed statement.

In Haiti, 51 people were killed, Agence France-Presse reported. In neighboring Dominican Republic, eight people were killed and two injured in a landslide, the country's Center of Emergency Operations said on its Web site.

About 1,180 homes were destroyed or flooded across the south of the country, the center said.

Tropical Storm Hanna formed yesterday in the Atlantic northeast of the northern Leeward Islands, the U.S. center said. The storm, with winds of 50 mph, is on a path toward the east coast of Florida, computer models show.

The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency was on alert for Gustav and said it had food, water and supplies ready to move into the area.

Moving Provisions

The U.S. Department of Defense has authorized its units to respond to a storm, said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. During Hurricane Katrina three years ago, that permission had to be secured before action could be taken.

``I hope that those of you who were around during Katrina see the difference in what's happening,'' said David Paulson of FEMA. Four million meals and 2.5 million liters of water have been moved to the Gulf Coast states, Paulson said. Cots and other supplies have been pre-positioned as well.

``What you are seeing is an entire culture change in how emergency management systems are going to work in this country,'' he said.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal readied 3,000 National Guardsmen to help emergency efforts in his state, and about 800 buses were on standby to evacuate as many as 35,000 people.

Jindal earlier wrote to President George W. Bush that ``Federal assistance is necessary to save lives and to protect property, public health and safety.''

Police Patrols

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said on Aug. 27 there would be no ``shelters of last resort,'' such as the Superdome or the Convention Center, where thousands took refuge during Katrina. He said police will check neighborhoods making sure people are out, and trains, buses and airplanes will be pressed into service for those needing transportation.

The city shortened a commemoration today for victims of Katrina, the most economically destructive hurricane in U.S. history, because of the need to prepare for Gustav. Katrina cost the Gulf coast states hit by the storm as much as $125 billion, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Crude oil for October delivery rose $1.41, or 1.2 percent, to $117 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $116.65 a barrel at 2.34 p.m. Singapore time. Prices are up 2 percent this week, the biggest gain since rising 3.6 percent in the week of July 4.

Energy companies, including ConocoPhillips and Royal Dutch Shell Plc, accelerated evacuations from the Gulf of Mexico.

U.S. oil and gas platforms and pipelines are most concentrated in the waters south of Louisiana and east of Texas. Offshore fields in the Gulf accounted for 26 percent of total U.S. crude production and 12 percent of natural gas output in April, according to the U.S. Energy Department.

To contact the reporters on this story: Ryan Flinn in San Francisco at rflinn@bloomberg.net; Brian K. Sullivan in New Orleans at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net.