Gustav swells to dangerous Cat 3 storm off Cuba

[marmar]

AP, via Yahoo!:



Gustav swells to dangerous Cat 3 storm off Cuba
By MAURA AXELROD, Associated Press Writer
52 minutes ago



GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands - Gustav swelled to a fearsome Category 3 hurricane early Saturday with winds of 115 mph as it approached western Cuba on a track to hit the U.S. Gulf Coast three years after Hurricane Katrina.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami called the storm "dangerous" and said it had reached the status of a major hurricane, the second one of this Atlantic season after Bertha in July.

Gustav, which killed 71 people in the Caribbean, rolled over the Cayman Islands Friday with fierce winds that tore down trees and power lines. It was expected to cross Cuba's cigar country Saturday and head into the Gulf of Mexico by Sunday.

Gustav first struck Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, the smaller easternmost "Sister Islands" in the chain. Storm surge and heavy rains flooded the streets.

Two people were knocked down by huge waves as they tried to take pictures of the storm on Little Cayman, but there were no other immediate reports of injuries, said Hemant Balgobin, disaster manager for the Red Cross in the British territory.

There were reports of damaged homes in Cayman Brac and flooding throughout the islands but authorities had not yet fully assessed the situation, said Balgobin, who was on Grand Cayman, the largest in the chain. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080830/ap_on_re_us/tropical_weather

[ProdigalJunkMail]

1. strengthening rapidly ... 0800EDT 120MPH

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

and a long way to go over warm, energy-rich waters before a landfall in US...Cuba is about to get smacked...

sP

[Ghost Dog]

5. Hurricane alert for western Cuba

http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2008/agosto/vier29/36alerta-ing.html

THE General Staff of Cuba’s Civil Defense authorities have declared a hurricane alert for the provinces of La Habana, City of Havana and Matanzas.

In bulletin No. 6 on Tropical Storm Gustav, Civil Defense authorities also declared the informative stage for the provinces of Villa Clara, Cienfuegos and Sancti Spíritus.

A hurricane alert has also been declared for coastal municipalities in the southern parts of Ciego de Avila and Camagüey provinces, and that status remains for the municipalities on the southern coast of Las Tunas.

Previously, a hurricane alert was declared for the province of Pinar del Rio and the special municipality of the Isle of Youth.

Leadership bodies in these areas were expected to rationally comply with protective measures in line with their appreciation of danger, and to be attentive to changes in the weather situation that could occur in the coming hours, the Civil Defense bulletin said.

[tekisui]

2. Could be a CAT 4 by tomorrow afternoon.

[cobalt1999]

3. It's time for New Orleans to start evacuating.

If the city & state have learned anything, begin the evacuations NOW!

[tpsbmam]

6. Voluntary evacuations already.......

reportedly to be mandatory evacuations by this afternoon. Contraflow traffic starts early tomorrow morning. Already problems in that the company that contracted to provide buses to get people the hell out of there this time now isn't providing enough buses. I'm so fucking surprised a private contractor hasn't done what it said it would!
:sarcasm:

http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf/evacuation/

[glowing]

4. I saw that it was slowing down and stalling.. wed/ thurs. hit now.. which

means that it will only gain strenth sitting out in those warm waters.. Not good at all if there is a split screen of McCain accepting his nomination with NO being hit by a Cat 3 or 4 on Thurs.

[DemReadingDU]

7. Latest Satellite Imagery

Check out the links for the loop imagery

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/satellite.shtml