The death toll from Tropical Storm Gustav is at 59 as the storm swerves across Jamaica - and may have its sights set on New Orleans.
At least 51 people died in Haiti from floods, mudslides and falling trees while eight more people were buried when a cliff gave way in the Dominican Republic. One woman died clutching her 11-month-old baby while five more of her children were smothered in the wreckage beside her.
As of 8 p.m. ET, Gustav was centered about 25 km west of Kingston, Jamaica and about 485 km east-southeast of Grand Cayman and is moving westward at about 11 km/h.
Forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on this track the center of Gustav will cross Jamaica tonight and move near or over the Cayman Islands Friday.
Meanwhile, tension is mounting on the U.S. Gulf Coast as Louisiana and Texas national guards are on standby in advance of the storm.
Officials in New Orleans also pondering an evacuation of the city nearly three years to the day Hurricane Katrina battered the city.
Mayor Ray Nagin, who was attending the Democratic National Convention in Denver, left early to help the city prepare.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said he believes there's a good chance Gustav will strike the Gulf Coast.
In Jamaica, authorities urged people in rural areas to find shelter while businesses remained open Thursday in Kingston.
Ronald Jackson of Jamaica's Office of Disaster Preparedness (ODPEM) told 愛污传媒net on Thursday that they've begun the process of evacuating parts of the southern and northern coasts of the island, but have not forced residents to leave their homes.
Jackson said they have seen a steady flow of people in the 34 shelters they have opened; five of which are now occupied.
ODPEM are not getting the high levels of compliance they would like to see with evacuation orders, Jackson said, but he added that it is a marked improvement from over the last six years.
In the Cayman Islands, tourists were being evacuated Thursday as resorts shut down in advance of the storm.
Stacey McLaughlan of Albany, N.Y., said she and her husband were told to leave their resort by noon Thursday.
McLaughlan told The Associated Press she was told that if she didn't leave the island she'd have to go to a shelter.
