Gustav floods Haiti, is expected to restrengthen
Hurricane Gustav triggered killer floods in Haiti, a spike in oil prices and fear throughout the Gulf Coast as forecasters said it is all but certain to grow into a major hurricane by this weekend.
Gustav dipped to tropical storm status with 60 mph winds early Wednesday after the mountainous terrain of southern Haiti disrupted its organization. But the storm was moving over deep, warm water between Cuba, Jamaica and Haiti and is expected to strengthen back to a Category 1 hurricane soon and then possibly into a ferocious Category 3 by Friday.But the threat to South Florida and the Keys remained relatively low because a high-pressure system parked over the state will steer away Gustav.
”That ridge of pressure is protecting us from a direct hit,” said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist and spokesman for the National Hurricane Center in West Miami-Dade. “It’s going to keep pushing Gustav farther into the Gulf.”
Hurricane Gustav thrashed Haiti, ripping off roofs and downing power lines with its 90 mph winds. It made landfall Tuesday afternoon near Jacmel and pounded the country with several inches of rain. Heavy rain caused a landslide in the mountain town of Benet, killing a man, officials said. At least two other flood-related deaths had been reported in Haiti, but details were not immediately available. Authorities said hundreds of Haitians had been forced out of their homes by flooding in Les Cayes, Jacmel and other coastal areas.
The official forecast track shows Gustav gaining strength in the next two days over the warm waters between Jamaica and Cuba before emerging in the Gulf of Mexico as ”an extremely dangerous hurricane” with 120 mph winds possible, according to hurricane center specialists.
On Wednesday morning, the center of Gustav was about 120 miles southeast of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and the storm was moving northwest at 5 mph and projected to make a slight turn to the west.
Jamaica, Cuba and the Cayman Islands were under hurricane watches, and oil companies and speculators began to brace for a possible hit to the oil rigs off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas — where about a quarter of U.S. crude oil is produced. Shell Oil representatives said the company could begin evacuating workers Wednesday.
Oil prices rose by $1.40 early Wednesday, to more than $117 a barrel, according to the Associated Press. Prices of futures in natural gas, heating oil and gasoline also rose.
Gustav could cause fuel prices to jump by 10 cents a gallon before the travel-heavy Labor Day weekend, Tampa-based stock trader James Cordier said to the Associated Press.
The storm forced Haitian government offices and businesses to close early and for President René Préval to cancel an installation ceremony for new elected officials. Gustav’s winds reached the capital of Port-au-Prince, where resident Wilkinson Jean-Paul said storm debris littered the streets.
”It’s coming nonstop, with a lot of pressure,” Jean-Paul said of the downpours. “You definitely feel like it’s a hurricane.”
In preparation for Gustav’s Wednesday approach to the southern coast of Cuba, U.S. sailors in Guantánamo Bay tied down lawn furniture and secured war-on-terror detainees. Public works staff stacked sandbags at the commissary while troops and civilians in residential areas were told to bring in their trash cans and lawn ornaments.
Senior officials remained tight-lipped about their plans for detainees being held at a secret location somewhere on the 45-square-mile base. ”We’ll make sure they’re not at risk,” Army Brig. Gen. Gregory Zanetti said.
In South Florida, Gustav’s projected path away from the state brought some relief to water managers still trying to deal with the onslaught of rain that Tropical Storm Fay dumped last week.
Even without Gustav being an imminent threat, there are three other tropical weather systems brewing in the Atlantic — any of which could bring rain to Florida. Lake Okeechobee, which had been locked in historic low levels for nearly two years, was at 13.63 feet Tuesday and expected to rise at least another foot.
”The system is saturated,” said Randy Smith, spokesman for the South Florida Water Management District, which planned a news conference Wednesday to discuss flood-control plans. “If we had another storm that came in the next couple of days, it would be a challenge. It’s just not enough time if another one follows right on the heels of Fay.”
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www.miamiherald.com / Wed, Aug. 27, 2008
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