Death toll climbs as Gustav barrels through Caribbean
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Tropical Storm Gustav has battered Jamaica, dumping rain and ripping roofs off homes and threatening to grow into a hurricane after leaving 59 people dead in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Anxiety is growing on the United States Gulf Coast on the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and authorities in New Orleans are planning a possible mandatory evacuation to prevent a repeat of the devastation and deaths wreaked earlier.
Authorities in Louisiana and Mississippi have already declared states of emergency before Gustav's expected landfall late on Monday (local time) as a hurricane.
Gustav is forecast to pummel the Cayman Islands and the western tip of Cuba before turning north and entering the Gulf of Mexico over the weekend.
The centre of the storm is expected to move back over water later on Friday (local time), where it could mushroom into a hurricane later in the day or Saturday, the US National Hurricane Centre says in its latest advisory.
Gustav's powerful winds ripped off roofs and threatened to wreak havoc on Jamaica's banana industry, officials said.
Maximum sustained winds slowed to 100 kilometres per hour early Friday.
- AFP
