KINGSTON, Jamaica -- Residents, tourists and oil workers fled Jamaica on Thursday, as tropical storm Gustav, blamed for 59 deaths in other countries, threatened the island. Louisiana and Texas put their national guards on standby, and New Orleans said a mandatory evacuation might be necessary.
At least 51 people died in Haiti from floods, mudslides and falling trees, including 25 around the city of Jacmel, where Gustav first struck land Tuesday. Eight more people were buried when a cliff gave way in the Dominican Republic. Marcelina Feliz died clutching her 11-month-old baby, and five more children were smothered in the wreckage beside her.
Residents stand in front of several houses destroyed by a landslide in Santo Domingo. Eight people have died, including two infants, in the landslide triggered by Hurricane Gustav.
On Thursday afternoon, Gustav's centre was 25 kilometres east-northeast of Kingston, Jamaica's low-lying capital. Forecasters said it could grow to a hurricane before slamming into Grand Cayman on Friday night.
Even as tourists searched for flights off the islands, officials urged calm. Theresa Foster, one of the owners of the Grand Caymanian Resort, said Gustav didn't look as threatening as Hurricane Ivan, which destroyed 70 per cent of Grand Cayman's buildings four years ago.
"Whatever was going to blow away has already blown away," she said.
Forecasters said parts of Jamaica could get 63 centimetres of rain, which could trigger landslides and cause serious crop damage. Authorities told fisherman to stay ashore, and hotel workers secured beach umbrellas in the resort city of Montego Bay.
Jamaica evacuated low-lying areas including Portmore, a crowded and flood-prone area outside Kingston. Kingston's main airport was closed and buses stopped running even as people streamed into supermarkets for emergency supplies and men played dominoes in bars.
Oil prices spiked above $120 a barrel before settling below $116 in a session made volatile by fears that the storm could affect production in the Gulf area, home to 4,000 oil rigs and half of America's refining capacity. Hundreds of offshore workers pulled out, and analysts said the storm could send U.S. gas prices back over $4 a gallon.
"Prices are going to go up pretty soon. You're going to see increases by five, 10, 15 cents a gallon," said Tom Kloza, publisher of the Oil Price Information Service in Wall, N.J. "If we have a Katrina-type event, you're talking about gas prices going up another 30 per cent."
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Hanna formed in the Atlantic, but it was too early to predict whether it could threaten the U.S. east coast. Forecasters cautioned that Gustav's path remained equally uncertain.
"It is simply impossible to determine exactly where and when Gustav will make final landfall," said Richard Knabb of the National Hurricane Center in Miami. "The chances of hurricane-force winds within the next five days are essentially the same at each individual location from the Florida Panhandle coast westward through the entire coastline of Louisiana."
But with Hurricane Katrina's third anniversary falling on Friday, Louisiana wasn't taking any chances. Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency to lay the groundwork for federal assistance. Texas Gov. Rick Perry issued a disaster declaration, and together they put 8,000 National Guard troops on standby.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said he would order a mandatory evacuation of the city if forecasters predict a Category-3 strike -- or possibly even a Category-2 -- within 72 hours. Both Jindal and Nagin were meeting with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.
"I'm panicking," said Evelyn Fuselier of Chalmette, whose home was submerged in four metres of Katrina's floodwaters. "I keep thinking, 'Did the Corps fix the levees?,' 'Is my house going to flood again?' ... 'Am I going to have to go through all this again?"'
Haitian officials said a seven-year-old girl was among the 51 dead, most of whom were killed in the mountainous Center of the country's southern peninsula.
"Some of them were killed when trees fell on their houses," said Jean-Michel Sabbat, a senior civil protection official. "Some of them, flood water swept them away."
--The Associated Press
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