The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
32°F
Current Conditions
Clear sky
View complete weather report
Subscribe now

Deadly Hurricane Gustav moves through Caymans

Residents stand on a bridge destroyed by Tropical Storm Gustav in Kingston, Jamaica, on Friday. After drenching Jamaica, Gustav reached hurricane strength on its way to the Cayman Islands. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
By MAURA AXELROD Associated Press
Residents stand on a bridge destroyed by Tropical Storm Gustav in Kingston, Jamaica, on Friday. After drenching Jamaica, Gustav reached hurricane strength on its way to the Cayman Islands. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands – Gustav became a hurricane again on Friday and moved through the Cayman Islands, the start of a buildup that could take it to the U.S. Gulf Coast as a fearsome Category 3 storm three years after Hurricane Katrina.

Gustav, which killed 71 people in the Caribbean, on Friday evening reached the Cayman Islands, a tiny offshore tax haven studded with resorts and cruise-ship souvenir shops, on track to next hit Cuba’s cigar country and heading into the Gulf of Mexico by Sunday.

Well-heeled tourists fled Cayman hotels by air, while Katrina victims in Mississippi still living in emergency cottages and trailers were told to evacuate beginning this weekend.

Hotels on the Cayman Islands asked guests to leave, then after the airport closed prepared to shelter those who remained.

The storm killed four people in a daylong march across the length of Jamaica, where it ripped off roofs and downed power lines. About 4,000 people were displaced from their homes, with about half relocated to shelters.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding said the government sent army helicopters Friday to rescue 31 people trapped by floods. At least 59 people died in Haiti and eight in the Dominican Republic.

As much as 80 percent of the Gulf of Mexico’s oil and gas production could be shut down as a precaution if Gustav enters as a major storm, weather research firm Planalytics predicted. Oil companies have already evacuated hundreds of workers from offshore platforms.

Retail gas prices rose Friday for the first time in 43 days as analysts warned that a direct hit on Gulf energy infrastructure could send pump prices hurtling toward $5 a gallon. Crude oil prices ended slightly lower in a volatile session as some traders feared supply disruptions and others bet the government will release supplies from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Late Friday night, Gustav was centered 25 miles west-southwest of Little Cayman Island, moving northwest near 10 mph. The hurricane center said top winds were to near 80 mph.

“Gustav could become a major hurricane near the time it crosses western Cuba,” the center said.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Hanna was projected to curl westward into the Bahamas by early next week. It had sustained winds near 50 mph.