GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands — Gustav became a hurricane again Friday as it plowed toward Cayman Islands resorts.
Gustav, which killed at least 71 people in the Caribbean, was expected to swirl through the Cayman Islands, a tiny offshore tax haven studded with resorts and cruise-ship souvenir shops, before crossing Cuba’s cigar country and heading into the Gulf of Mexico by Sunday.
Well-heeled tourists fled Cayman hotels by air, while Katrina victims in Mississippi still living in emergency cottages and trailers were told to evacuate beginning this weekend.
Hotels on the Caymans asked guests to leave, then after the airport closed prepared to shelter those who remained. Chris Smith of Frederick, Md., said his hotel handed out wrist bands marked with guests’ names and room numbers so that “if something happens they can quickly identify us.”
“That was a little bit sobering,” he said, standing outside the hotel with his luggage.
The storm killed four people in a day-long march across the length of Jamaica, where it ripped off roofs and downed power lines. Prime Minister Bruce Golding said the government sent army helicopters Friday to rescue 31 people trapped by floods. At least 59 people died in Haiti and eight in the Dominican Republic.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Hanna was projected to curl westward into the Bahamas by early this week. The Associated Press
