Gustav hits Haiti, drives up oil prices

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Hurricane Gustav caused a killer landslide and dumped torrential rains on southern Haiti before weakening to a tropical storm late Tuesday.
Rising water threatened Haiti's crops amid protests over high food prices, and oil prices rose on fears the storm could batter oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

The storm lingered into the night over Haiti's poor, deforested southern peninsula, and water levels were rising in banana, bean and vegetable fields. One man was killed in a landslide in the mountain town of Benet, civil protection director Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste told Radio Metropole.

Cars pushed through standing water in the streets of Port-au-Prince, as fallen trees and landslides blocked a major road out of the capital.

Hundreds of people in coastal Les Cayes ignored government warnings to seek shelter, instead throwing rocks to protest the high cost of living in the Western Hemisphere's poorest country. Witnesses said U.N. peacekeepers used tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Haiti is a tinderbox because of soaring food prices, which in April led to deadly protests and the ouster of the nation's prime minister. It was difficult to ascertain the extent of the damage from the hurricane to the nation's crops on Tuesday because of Haiti's poor infrastructure and faulty communications.

"If the rain continues, we'll be flooded," U.N. food consultant Jean Gardy said Tuesday from the southeastern town of Marigot.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said late Tuesday that Gustav had weakened to a tropical storm with winds near 70 mph (110 kph) but is expected to regain hurricane strength on Wednesday once it clears Haiti. Forecasters said it could become a Category 2 hurricane with winds topping 96 mph (154 kph) Thursday as it moves between Cuba and Jamaica.

After Haiti, a strengthening Gustav was projected to sideswipe Cuba's southern coastline all week before entering the central gulf on Sunday. Jamaica and the Cayman Islands were under hurricane watches.

Forecasters were reluctant to predict the storm's path beyond the weekend, the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Thunderstorms associated with Gustav were already bringing downpours to some parts of eastern Cuba late Tuesday night. In Houlgin province, communist officials evacuated residents from low-lying areas and set up shelters and emergency food distribution centers in schools and municipal buildings.

Forecasters said the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, would be spared a direct hit. Base spokesman Bruce Lloyd said the base was preparing for emergencies in any case.

A powerful storm in the Gulf of Mexico could force shutdowns on the offshore rigs that account for a quarter of U.S. crude production and much of its natural gas. Royal Dutch Shell PLC said it could begin evacuating workers as soon as Wednesday.

The price of light, sweet crude for October delivery ended Tuesday up US$1.16 to settle at US$116.27 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after the forecasters said Gustav could enter the gulf as a major hurricane this weekend.

Late Tuesday, the storm's center was about 85 miles (135 kilometers) west of Port au Prince, Haiti. The storm was moving west-northwest near 8 mph (13 kph).

If the storm continues on its path, it could drive up U.S. gasoline prices by 10 cents a gallon ahead of Labor Day weekend, predicted James Cordier, president of Tampa, Florida-based Liberty Trading Group and OptionSellers.com.

"Most indications are that Gustav will be an extremely dangerous hurricane in the northwestern Caribbean Sea in a few days," the Miami-based hurricane center said.

Gustav roared ashore on Haiti on Tuesday afternoon near the city of Jacmel with top sustained winds near 90 mph (145 kph). Heavy rains pelted the area as winds bent palm trees and kicked up surf along waterfronts of dilapidated wooden buildings.

Patrice Tallyrand, 43, fled with his family to a friend's home after Gustav knocked down four trees in their back yard in the southern town of Kabik.

"We had to leave the house before it got worse," he said.

Stranded travelers mobbed the American Airlines counter at the airport after the airline canceled all flights.

"I knew it was coming, but I was hoping to be out before it came," said Jody Stoltzfus, a 27-year-old missionary who had planned a visit home to Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

In Cuba, Fidel Castro issued an essay that mentioned the hurricane, saying Cuba's government "guarantees no one will be forgotten."

Source: news.yahoo.com