Gustav hits Jamaica

Tropical Storm Gustav has hit Jamaica after killing at least 59 people elsewhere in the Caribbean.

The storm is heading for New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico oil fields and could grow in strength to hurricane force.

As Gustav churned through the Caribbean, Tropical Storm Hanna formed in the Atlantic Ocean with 40mph winds that could threaten the Bahamas and Florida next week.

Oil prices rose above $120 a barrel as energy companies prepared for Gustav to deliver what could be the hardest hit to the heart of the US Gulf oil patch since the devastating 2005 hurricane season.

New Orleans, the southern US city ravaged by Hurricane Katrina three years ago, remains in the path the storm is predicted to take.

Residents have been put on alert for possible evacuations from Friday, the third anniversary of Katrina's strike.

In Jamaica, shops, post offices and schools shut their doors and authorities ordered nonessential workers to stay home as Gustav neared.

The storm barged ashore as a hurricane in Haiti on Tuesday and its driving rains killed at least 59 people there and in the neighboring Dominican Republic.

On its current path Gustav will threaten the Cayman Islands and western Cuba before entering the Gulf.

© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.

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