Storm kills at least 19 in Hispaniola

Gustav may’ve been downgraded to a tropical storm yet that didn’t stop it from battering the island of Hispaniola. The storm reached land with winds nearing 100 miles per hour as Gustav claimed the lives of at least ten Haitians and an entire family of seven on the Dominican Republic.

Unfortunately the worse of Gustav may yet to be seen:

“Though Gustav has temporarily weakened overnight due to its interaction with Haiti, this storm remains likely to explode into a major hurricane over the northwestern Caribbean'' on Aug. 29, said Jim Roullier, a senior energy meteorologist with Planalytics Inc., a forecaster based in Wayne, Pennsylvania.

The storm weakened from a hurricane overnight as it crossed southwestern Haiti. As much as 25 inches (64 centimeters) of rain may fall in parts of the Dominican Republic, Haiti, eastern Cuba, Jamaica and the Caymans, the center said.

In anticipation of Gustav, Cuban authorities issued hurricane alerts for eastern parts of the island and “emergency preparations” are also being done at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay.

The price of crude oil is expected to increase for a third straight day as energy producers worry over the safety of offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Image- miamiherald.com (“A man makes his way through heavy rains caused by the approaching of Gustav Hurricane in Havana, Cuba on Tuesday.”)

Sources- AFP, Bloomberg, UPI, IHT, MarketWatch, Reuters, newsday.com,