Massive hurricane convinces tourists to flee Jamaica and US states declare emergency

Tourists in Jamaica are frantically fleeing this island nation and popular holiday destination as Hurricane Gustav’s heavy winds pummels the region. According to an Associated Press report, the hurricane has already claimed the lives of 59 people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic . Gustav is now believed to be moving towards Louisiana and Texas, raising concern among locals that they may be in for another natural disaster, similar to hurricane Katrina. As such, both residents and tourists will start evacuating parts of Louisiana later today and tomorrow, when official state-led evacuation plans come into effect.

There were chaotic scenes at airports in Jamaica, where tourists desperately tried to find flights that would transport them out of a country that is likely to be very hard hit by the hurricane. Earlier this morning Gustav was around 40 miles off the shores of Jamaica, but journalists in the island national already reported heavy winds and rains. Meteorologists now predict that the hurricane will hit Kingston, Jamaica’s capital city, sometime late this evening.

Tourists in New Orleans are also encouraged to keep a close eye on the news, as the city’s mayor, Ray Nagin, has already confirmed that he will order the city’s complete evacuation if meteorologists predict that Gustav may become a category three hurricane and might hit Louisiana’s legendary city. Louisiana is already under a state of emergency and the state’s governor, Bobby Jindal, has cancelled his plans to take part in next week’s Republican national convention, in order to deal with what may very well develop into a major crisis back home.