Gustav hits Jamaica, heads towards USA

Jamaica has been feeling the full force of tropical storm Gustav, which has so far killed 60 people.

Now close to hurricane force, it has already ravaged Haiti and the Dominican republic, but worse could be on the way.

Gustav is due to swing into the Gulf of Mexico, endangering its many oil and gas rigs, and after that, next stop New Orleans, which only yesterday remembered Hurricane Katrina which devastated the city three years ago.

People have been warned to be ready to evacuate just in case, but the government has moved swiftly to head off any rise in oil prices, which leapt on the weather news before falling again. It will release emergency supplies if Gustav seriously disrupts production.

But New Orleans is still far from being ready for another disaster on the scale of Katrina. Flood defences are being rebuilt and extended, but will not be finished for another three years. In the meantime, people get ready as best they can.

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